Covenant Renewal/Choose Whom You Will Serve

Renewal of Covenant

(NRSV)

The Tribes Renew the Covenant

(Cp )

24 Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God.

(NRSV)

2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors—Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor—lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods.

I have been asked by many, can we renew our vows to God and the church?

The verses immediately following are God’s testimony of what he did for our ancestors.

Choose Whom You Will Serve

Joshua 24:14 ESV

“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

(NRSV)

14 “Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. So we come to this passage. Where do you put yourself on this scale?

1. revere-feel deep respect or admiration for (something).

2.serve-perform duties or services for (another person or an organization).

3. sincerity-the quality of being free from pretense, deceit, or hypocrisy.

4. faithfulness-the quality of being faithful; fidelity.

It is possible that you could include yourself in all of these instances. John Wesley might consider this to be sanctification. Sanctification being that you have been truly sanctified or made right. In order to do these things we must first of all put away all false gods.

(NRSV)

15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

The people answered Joshua by saying, (NRSV)

16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; Is this also your answer? If you identify with any of these points brought to us by Joshua perhaps this question is aimed at you; perhaps you also need to re-examine your thoughts and intentions. Perhaps you are one who needs to rededicate your life.

Joshua is asking the people who they will follow and in his answer to the question Joshua claims himself to be a follower of God.

Is it enough to claim what we know? Or must we also follow what we understand to be true? Joshua is only reminding them of what they should already know. Do we also need to be reminded of what we should already know. From my past, I will confess that I have found that people in church do not always know what they should know.