I found this passage of God's Book very challenging this
morning:
“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. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”[1]
Notice the three parts.
Part one: "fear
the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness," instead of
serving idols. Church, deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow
Jesus, rejecting all advances of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Part two: "if
it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will
serve". Notice that the "choose
this day whom you will serve" no longer applies to the LORD, Yahweh,
Jesus. This is now an exhortation to the people who have decided it is evil in
their eyes to serve Jesus the Christ.
What choice are such people to declare? Which idols they
will serve. Yes, the message is, if you reject the good news of life in Jesus
Christ, be honest enough to declare your choice of idol (even if it is you).
Part three: "But
as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." It would be nice if
everyone would return to our Creator and receive his gift of salvation. Many
consider it evil to do so, and are willing to be held accountable for serving
their own gods. No matter what anyone else does, there is this tremendous
example to be clear that we ourselves, and the households we lead, will live in
“sincere and pure devotion to Jesus the
Christ.”[2]
While this testimony is a few millennia old, the issue is as
current as today's news. I would be happy to help anyone say yes to part one
and three.
© 2016 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.)
No comments:
Post a Comment