By: Elizabeth Ramirez

“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.” Joshua 24:15

The book of Joshua comes to a close with Joshua reminding the tribes of Israel all about what God had seen them through (multiple battles, multiple years wandering in the wilderness, etc) and the promises he had kept (to give Abraham multiple descendants, to free the Israelites from slavery, etc). Joshua challenged them to make a decision. “Choose this day whom you will serve?”

As a human race, Yahweh gave us free will and the power to make our own decisions. As children, our parents gave us guidance and direction to hopefully make good choices in life. As adults we go on to instill values in our own children. Who will you serve?

Who or what we serve will receive our devotion, our time our attention, and become our priority. Unfortunately, it is easy to and allow other things (sports, video games, friends, work, money) to take priority in our lives. We must listen to Joshua’s advice and make the decision to stay intentionally focused on the one true God.

“But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

For Kids:

How can we show our love for God?

- we can read the bible daily, pray, sing songs of praise, obey His commandments

What kinds of things can turn us away from God?

-money, people, entertainment, popularity, things (treasures

Are these things bad things?

-they are only sinful if we allow them to turn us away from obeying God.

How can we serve the LORD in our home?

Challenge: In our quiet time each day, let's ask God to show us if we are serving anyone or anything other than Him, and ask him to help us serve only Him.