Everyday Christian Living: Resolve
Joshua 24;15
“…Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve…”
But if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
Two of my favorite Old Testament leaders are Joshua and Caleb. They are a picture of faith, obedience, and commitment to God.
Joshua and Caleb served as two of the twelve spies who, having left Egypt, went into the Promised Land to see what God had promised to His people, Israel. You will find their story in Numbers 13 and 14. Their report was interesting. While ten of the spies were full of fear and worry, Joshua and Caleb brought back a report of faith and confidence in God. Even in the face of criticism, they demonstrated resolve to follow God and obey His command.
Of course, then the children of Israel didn’t trust God and instead of claiming the land God had promised them, they disobeyed and wandered for 40 years. Now you might think that would be enough to crush the resolve of Joshua and Caleb, however, fast forward 40 years, and guess what you find in the book of Joshua? You find Joshua and Caleb remaining resolved to follow God and lead the children of Israel to conquer the land of Canaan. In the face of their own fearful countrymen, they demonstrated resolve to follow God.
When they faced Jericho, they trusted God and obeyed Him. When they faced the different pagan groups living in the land, they resolved by faith to follow God.
The Scriptural picture of Joshua and Caleb from the book of Joshua is that they loved God, served God, obeyed God, and resolved in their hearts to trust God and not men. These were men of tremendous faith and resolve.
Now THAT is resolve.
Resolve in the face of their enemies, resolve in the face of their peers, and resolve in the face of what seemed impossible.
Living every day for Jesus Christ and making every day count for Jesus requires a deep and personal resolve. We know that is true, but why is it true? We, the people of God, will always be outnumbered. We will never be in the majority and we will never be bigger than the enemy. It is just a true statement. I am not intending to be negative or pessimistic. I am simply being realistic. If we think that we will outnumber the enemy, we are terribly mistaken. In terms of people alone, Christ followers will always be in the minority.
Joshua and Caleb had personal resolve because they knew something very important. They knew they were on God’s side and that God was bigger than any enemy. They knew that following God meant they would always be on the winning side.
This same resolve even became the focus of God’s challenge to the children of Israel in the book of Joshua.
"But if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15).
Read those words again, “Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve.” There is our call to resolve to be faithful to God. Joshua 23 and 24 represent Joshua’s farewell speech to the nation of Israel.
However, these two chapters have different perspectives. Joshua 23 is from Joshua himself and is Joshua’s challenge to the nation. But Joshua 24 is God’s challenge, God’s command, and God’s encouragement. What we have in Joshua 24 is from God Himself and He is calling on Israel to make a commitment.
Every day we are faced with the temptations of the flesh. Every day we are faced with the vain philosophies of the world and everyday we are faced with the destructive desires of Satan and his demons. But we can face every day with the same resolve of Joshua and Caleb - a heart to follow God alone. We can’t wait to decide what we will do when the temptation comes. We have to resolve now to follow God with our whole heart.
By the way, that is the testimony of Scripture regarding Caleb. He wholly followed God. (See Joshua 14:13-14.)
“Choose you this day whom you will serve.”
Let that thought guide you today as you resolve to wholly follow Jesus.