What Are You Living For? pt 7
What are you living for? • Sermon • Submitted
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· 9 viewsChristians are called -- not to just make a decision for Christ -- but...to commit ourselves to living for Him. This requires a daily commitment.
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What are you living for?
What are you living for?
A young boy and his dad were fishing. As they sat by the lake, the boy looked over and saw three frogs sitting on a tree branch. Pondering them.... the boy looked at his dad and said:
“Dad, if three frogs were sitting on a branch that hung over the lake, and one frog decided to jump off into the lake, how many frogs would be left on the branch?”
The dad replied confidently, “Two.”
“No.” The boy replied. “There’s three frogs and one decides to jump, how many are left?”
A little confused, but thinking he knows the answer, the dad replies, “Oh, I get it, if one decides to jump, the others would follow. So, there are none left.”
The boy says, “No Dad, the answer is three. The frog only DECIDED to jump.”
Life is full of decisions.
(Amen?)
But, there is a huge difference between decisions and commitment isn’t there?
A decision without commitment to it....is pointless!
That is what Joshua is getting at in this passage.
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Look at the interchange between Joshua and the Israelites: Quit playing around! Make a decision and stick to it!
“God has blessed you richly. He has provided for you way more than you deserve. So choose! Either He is worth committing to, or He is not!”
The Israelites reply: “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord after all He has done for us!”
But, Joshua says: “You can’t commit!”
“No!” they reply. “We will serve the Lord!”
“Alright!” says Joshua. “Then hold yourselves accountable, and get rid of your idols! Get everything else out of the way and give your hearts to God!”
Joshua’s challenge…his demand of them is — complete and total, unabashed commitment to God.
Joshua’s demand here is the exact same as Christ.
Rev. 3:14-16
“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God’s creation: “I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
Christ demands a choice and commitment be made.
Now hear this....
There is NO ROOM in the Church for us to “Play” with our faith!
We were called — not just to make a decision for Christ — (but) to commit ourselves to living for Him.
You see… The question we face today — the question Joshua posed here — the question that Christ puts to us is this:
When it comes to our lives — What do we do with God?
Is He just some little piece that we add to our already busy lives? Is God just that being who we call on when things are going badly?
Is He just a “religion” meant to be a part of our private lives, or… Are we committed to making Him the very center of our lives?
What do we do with God?
I read a post on Facebook this week that said:
"Some of y’all need to hear this, When you get married, you’re #1 is your wife & your children. The Family you created. Not your mom, not your dad, not your sister/brother. The family you chose to create. I don’t care who disagrees, that’s how is is, don’t get married, or have kids if you can’t handle that.”
It sounds good doesn’t it? Sounds like it is good advice, right?
Can I just say....No?! That is what the world says, but…it will never work. Unless God is central to our lives....
Meaning God is our #1....
Our relationships will fail. Our jobs will fail. Our families will suffer. Unless God is our central focus, and source of strength and guidance, we are destined to fail, but.....
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
“Choose this day whom you will serve...” Yourself, or God?
“Don’t be lukewarm,” make a choice!
Commit yourself to something! Stop floundering around wherever the wind blows, and commit!
We EXPECT a commitment in our relationships, but somehow we think God is going to keep blessing us when we won’t commit to Him!
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, 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 New Revised Standard Version The Tribes Renew the Covenant
choose this day whom you will serve,
Joshua
I know…I know.... “Pastor, that’s all well and good, but how do we accomplish staying committed to God? I mean…we see everyday how we fail to do that!”
I told you last week, that we would look at how we can remain committed daily.
Joshua gives us three things in this passage that we need to do.
I. Remember God’s Faithfulness.
Take a look at what Joshua does first with the Israelites:
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. 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. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac; and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt. Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in its midst; and afterwards I brought you out. When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. When they cried out to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did to Egypt. Afterwards you lived in the wilderness a long time. Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan; they fought with you, and I handed them over to you, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you.
We need to remember what God has done for us.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — George Santayana
Joshua understood this, so the first thing he does is take them on a trip through history. He gives them a history lesson to remind them of who they are, and what God has done.
Joshua 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. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac; and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.
Lesson 1 — God Chose Them.
God called Abram out of the idolatry of his people. Notice that Abram didn’t go to God, God went to him, and gave him the promise of blessing through his descendents....
…and through that promise, God chose them!
It was an act of God’s grace!
Acts 7:
And Stephen replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our ancestor Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,
Joshua reminded them, and Stephen reminded them....God Chose You!
Look at what Jesus says in John:
You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.
just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.
Now Church…Hear this — We did not choose Jesus.... He chose us!
We need to remember that.
Just like God chose Abraham, God Chose the Israelites....And He Chose us...
You are special! You are loved! You are desired!
It doesn’t matter what this world says about you..... It doesn’t matter if people accept you or not..... God Does!
He loves you....He chose you....and He cares for you!
God will not leave you struggling in sin, depression, loneliness, broken relationships, etc....
No matter what “church” background we come from, no matter what theology we hold to, we MUST admit that “God takes the first step in our salvation.”
But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
Lesson 2 — God delivered them.
Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in its midst; and afterwards I brought you out. When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. When they cried out to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did to Egypt. Afterwards you lived in the wilderness a long time.
Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt with what I did in its midst; and afterwards I brought you out. When I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, you came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued your ancestors with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. When they cried out to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did to Egypt. Afterwards you lived in the wilderness a long time. Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, who lived on the other side of the Jordan; they fought with you, and I handed them over to you, and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them before you.
If you look at verse 4, tells them that Jacob delivered them into bondage....
and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.
(We know God intended this for their good, and Joshua is using it here to remind them of what God did for them.)
But… God delivered them. First, from Egypt, and then into the “promised land.”
Do you get what he is reminding them of?
God delivered them from the bondage of “sin” (Egypt) into the “blessing” of relationship (promised land).
The Passover was meant to be a reminder to them of what God had done. Its purpose was to help them remain committed to God, as He is commited to them.
That is why Moses told them to:
Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.
We need the reminders, amen?
We need to constantly be reminded of who we are…what God has done…and what that means for us....
That is what Communion is for us.
It is a reminder of what God has done for us through Christ.
Joshua goes on to give them two more lessons here:
Lesson 3 — God provides and protects His children. (24:8-10)
Lesson 4 — God gave them the land. (24:11-13)
But, I do not want to dwell on them. The point is:
We must remember what God has done for us. We were in bondage to sin, and He delivered us from it.
Think about your life....
What has God done for you?
What is your life like today, compared to before Christ came to you? How is it different?
II. We must Remove the Idols from our life.
“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:14-15
Joshua tells them what their response should be to all God has done for them — “Serve the Lord with all faithfulness.”
In other words, commit to God…commit your lives to Him…give him everything....just as He has given everything to you!
“To serve God means to fear Him, obey Him, and worship Him only.” —Weirsbe
The very first commandment states:
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;
Jesus told us that “A house divided against itself could not stand.”
Joshua understood — if the Jews didn’t commit themselves worship the true God, they would worship the false gods and idols of Canaan.
This is why he told them: “you can’t do both.”
“Choose this day whom you will serve.”
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me,
Isreal was married to Jehovah. We are referred to as what?
The Bride of Christ.
The bride must be 100% commited to the groom, just as the groom must be 100% commited to the bride if a marriage is to work. (Amen?)
There can be no distractions. A strong, committed marriage requires that the groom’s only concern be for the bride’s needs, and the bride’s only concern be for the groom’s needs.
Can I tell you?
The Groom has already proven His commitment!
What is ours?
You see… way to often, we allow the idols of this world to creep in…to invade…our worship…our beliefs…our faith.
just like the Israelites in Joshua’s time, we allow the ideas, concepts, and practices of the world around us to infuse themselves into our theology.
Can I tell you this — If you have to work…to “cherry pick”…to maneuver scripture in order to make an idea of this world “plausible” in scripture, then it is an idol!
We see a lot of that today.
So, how do we identify it?
Simple… Idols are usually exposed by phrases like:
“That was “man’s” interpretation based on the “times,” and I don’t believe that was what Jesus meant.”
“The Bible was written by man, so it was not inerrant because of man’s biases.”
Can I just say — No! No!!!
Either the Bible is 100% truth, or it is not! Make a choice.
We cannot pick it apart in order to “feel good” about ourselves.
The simple truth is, we cannot be right with God, if there are idols in our lives.
What are the idols in your life?
What are the things you struggle to conform to scripture? What are the things you have to work to give yourself permission for?
Those are idols.
If we want to experience the full blessings of God, then we have to eradicate them from our lives.
III. Renew Our Commitment.
Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed;
I want you to notice what Joshua did in verse 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.”
Joshua commits completely.
He holds nothing back. Look at the level of commitment. “But as for me and my house...” Joshua is committing for himself AND his family.
That’s not him being a dictator, but him committing to God to do EVERYTHING in his power to lead his family according to God’s will, and to encourage them to commit to the level he has.
The Israelites seem to do the same, but Joshua knows the struggle ahead of them. So, he challenges them to commit to the same level that he has.....
We must do the same. We must commit everything to God — our lives, our families, our jobs, our dreams….
This is not a once and done act. We must continually renew our commitment to serve God.
We must put these practices into our daily lives.
We must remember what God has done for us. We must remove the idols that hinder our walk with Him, and we must renew our commitment to God.
So, what does it take to serve the Lord?
Christ gives us the answer:
Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
It takes a daily commitment — to Seek Him, to Know Him, and to Follow Him.
It is a commitment that forsakes EVERYTHING except GOD.
“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.
God must become our sole focus.
Remember, that is not loss…it is gain!
Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.
Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news,
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
I want you to notice one more thing.
Look at verse 1.
Joshua 24:1
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.
Joshua called the leaders together. Commitment to God begins with the leaders.
Our homes…our church…our community will not be committed to God…will not be changed by Him…will not experience the blessings He desires to place on us....if we are not totally…100%…committed to Him.
If you are a leader in your home, I want to ask you to stand with me. Right here, right now. Stand up.
Moms, Dads, singles..... stand up.
I commit to you…right here, right now....me and my house are commited to following God. This church is committed to following God — not a theology, not a manual, not a church history — but God himself.
I ask you — Will you commit with me? Will you make the choice to commit to God? To seek to follow Him daily…to actively look for His blessings and to hear His voice in your life…to lead your household to do the same?