As for Me and My House...the Wayfarer

As for Me and My House

Joshua 24:14-15

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁴ Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.

¹⁵ And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

The final portion of the opening verse is often quoted, memorialized in art, displayed prominently within the homes of many, as well as on the pages of social media.

Few acknowledge that there are words given us by Joshua that precede them, words that give meaning and importance to those words that close this precious quote.

These words comprise a portion of Joshua’s farewell address to the people he led for so long after the death of Moses, an address intended to remind them of the solemnity of who they were, and the consequences of their choices throughout both past and future.

In the past, this same people fell victim to their own choices as they became distracted by the glamour and glitz of the world and peoples around them, they became enamored of the concepts and ideas of those with whom they coexisted, failing to remember the essential difference between them that set them apart for the blessings they were intended to have from their Creator.

Not so often quoted are the preceding words that state, “CHOOSE YE THIS DAY.”

These words define the fact that there is a clear choice that must be made between the glitz and glamour and the reality of serving that Creator as intended.

Jesus made clear that same choice as he reminded that same people that loyalty could only be extended to one of two masters that demanded totality of that loyalty.

Matthew 6:19-24King James Version (KJV)

¹⁹ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

²⁰ But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

²¹ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

²² The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

²³ But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

²⁴ No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

The entirety of Jesus’ ministry was spent in directing those he taught back to God, reminding one and all of necessity to remember what was intended for them by God, and the means of attaining that which was, and remains intended for man by His Father.

Just as Joshua chastised and admonished his people, just as Joshua gave warning to that same people of the wrath that was the expected consequence of failure to acknowledge and heed that warning, just as Joshua reminded that people of the blessings that were only to be had by not failing to heed that warning, so too did Jesus preach from the Jordan to the Cross the necessity of repentance if redemption were to be obtained.

The final words of the opening scripture, so often quoted, hold meaning now, as much as they did then, coming now with the same requirement of commitment to purpose, commitment to ALL that is asked of us by God, including the remembrance that we must hold His tenets and teachings above those of the world around us, particularly when all the lofty ideas and ideals touted by man come into conflict with the simplicity of what has been taught by His Son, Whose very purpose simplified and made available the Love and LIFE intended for man that is being rejected daily in favor of the glitz and glamour offered in its stead.

Just as commitment was demanded and required in Joshua’s time, so too is that same commitment demanded and required of us this day.

  Just as the people that Joshua led were separated and set aside for God, so too are all today who are willing to make the choice demanded of each.

Joshua’s statement at the end of that scripture was not lightly made, and included the necessity for his family to serve the Lord.

This meant that they had been taught, and were expected to teach and keep those teachings throughout the remainder of time, serving only one Master, only one Lord, expecting the blessings of only THAT Master in a world that chose another altogether that could only result in the failure to obtain that blessing.

John 1King James Version (KJV)

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

² The same was in the beginning with God.

³ All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

⁴ In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

⁵ And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

⁷ The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

⁸ He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

⁹ That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

¹¹ He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

¹² But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

¹³ Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴ And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, chose to leave the power and glory of His Throne to make redemption possible for a race that forgot, and continues to forget their very purpose, forgot the lessons of their history, forgot their innate inadequacy, forgot that there is a Creator, there is a purpose, there is a promise, a promise that includes eternal LIFE, and demands only acceptance of a sacrifice already delivered and made for them.

Choice has been simplified, redemption made readily available to all, through that sacrifice, and most importantly through the proof given of that promise through the resurrection.

In closure, I repeat the importance of the words of Joshua, but include the import of yet another precious scripture given far later, one that also demands that same commitment and solemnity that can come only through the blood of that sacrifice that was made for all willing to accept it.

2 Timothy 1:12

¹²For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Amen and Amen

The Wayfarer