Joshua 24:14-15 - Following God demands a price

There can be no neutral ground when it comes to serving God. One is to serve Him wholehearted. And Joshua knew that well. We are to serve God with our all. There are three clear pieces of evidence that will show that we are total with and for God. Joshua 24:14 shows us that there must be the element of reverential fear. Then there must be a willingness to put away everything that hinders our total allegiance to Him. Finally, there must be a willingness to serve Him with sincerity and honesty.

In the previous verses, Joshua had shown the children of Israel all the privileges that God had accorded to them. It was He who had initiated the move to make them His people and protected them all the way with His power. Besides, He had granted them the favor of His presence and also met all their essential needs with his untold provisions. In the light of all that God had done for them, the only appropriate response ought to be a wholesome honor of the Lord. It is a healthy respect for God that brings about a deep reverential fear for Him. This kind of fear is not the same as the trepidation that a person has in anticipation of punishment. It is the desire that one has for not wanting to break the heart of God or do anything that would offend Him. When we have a proper and correct view of God, we will intuitively respect Him. Reverential fear is the natural consequence of our experiential knowledge of God. The fear we have for God will result in our willingness to serve Him.

To revere God rightly and serve Him honourably, there is a need to put away any hindrance that can come between our relationship with Him. For the people of Israel, they must put away the pagan gods of their ancestors. They must also put away the idols that they had adopted while in bondage in Egypt. For us, it is those things that we devotedly embraced before we give our life to the Lord Jesus Christ. We must put them away and keep no trace of any of them in our life. There must be a complete severance with those ungodly allegiance we have in our past.  

God desires sincere service. He resents a half-hearted, insincere and nonchalant worship. The word sincere means to come to God wholeheartedly, completely and with integrity. In Latin, this same word sincere means without wax. It is taken from the context of people in the business of selling pots. To cover up a crack in a pot, a dishonest dealer would use wax to camouflage it. The crack can only be detected in sunlight. To serve God sincerely and honestly is a call to serve without hypocrisy. We must render to God worship and service that is without wax. There must be no projection of the false.

Joshua knew that serving God in sincerity is a choice. So, He set the example. His commitment is this, “…as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Like him, we all have a free moral choice. God did not make us robots that would instinctively obey Him. Serving God is a choice we are free to make. To twist our arms and force us to serve Him would violate our free will. And Joshua knew that well. Hence, he told the Israelites to decide. Today, we also stand in the same situation as the people of Israel did at Shechem. The choice to serve God is also ours to make. This is a choice we have the capacity to make. What will you choose? As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!