SERVING GOD IS A CHOICE

IT WAS THIS MATTER OF CHOICE THAT PROMPTED GENERAL
JOSHUA TO CALL THE CONGREGATION TO MEET HIM IN A PLACE CALLED
SHECHEM. YOU BIBLE READERS WILL REMEMBER THAT SHECHEM IS THE
PLACE WHERE ABRAHAM STOPPED AND BUILT AN ALTAR AS HE WALKED
WEST WITH GOD. SHECHEM. THE PLACE WHERE JACOB STOPPED AND
TOOK THE IDOLS AWAY FROM HIS FAMILY. SHECHEM. THE PLACE
WHERE MOSES TOLD JOSHUA THAT AFTER YOU CROSS JORDAN AND
HAVE VICTORY AT JERICHO AND AI, TO GO DOWN TO THE VALLEY OF
SHECHEM BETWEEN MOUNT EBAL AND MOUNT GERIZEM AND HAVE A
TIME OF REVIVAL. SHECHEM. A THOUSAND YEARS FROM THE TIME OF
OUR TEXT, JESUS WOULD MEET THE WOMAN AT THE WELL IN THE
VALLEY OF SHECHEM. IT WAS AT SHECHEM THAT THIS CENTENARIAN,
THIS ONE HUNDRED AND TEN YEAR OLD GENERAL CALLED THE
CONGREGATION TOGETHER AND SAID IT WON'T BE LONG BEFORE I GO
THE WAY OF ALL THE EARTH. AND I WANT YOU TO MAKE ME A PROMISE.
THAT IS THAT AFTER I'M DEAD AND GONE, I WANT YOU TO PROMISE ME
THAT YOU'LL GO ON SERVING JEHOVAH. SHECHEM.

THREE POINTS

(VERSE 14) NOW THEREFORE, FEAR THE LORD AND SERVE HIM IN
SINCERITY AND IN TRUTH. SERVING THE LORD REQUIRES THE

RENEWAL OF CHOICE.

THIS WAS NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT GOD REQUIRED HIS PEOPLE TO
RENEW THEIR CHOICE. THE FIRST TIME THEY MADE A COVENANT, THEY
MADE IT UNDER ABRAHAM. THEN THEY MADE THIS SAME COVENANT
AGAIN UNDER MOSES. NOW THEY ARE MAKING IT UNDER JOSHUA AND
SIX HUNDRED YEARS LATER THEY WILL MAKE IT UNDER DAVID. SO
NOTE THAT OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN, GOD REQUIRES HIS
PEOPLE TO RENEW THEIR COVENANT. YOU SEE, GOD KNOWS SOMETHING
ABOUT US THAT WE DON'T LIKE TO ADMIT ABOUT OURSELVES. WHAT
GOD KNOWS IS THAT OUR DECISIONS AND CHOICES ARE NOT ETCHED IN
STONE. WE'LL MAKE A DECISION TODAY, BUT TOMORROW WE WILL
WONDER, WE WILL STRAY FROM THE GOD WE SAY WE LOVE. ON
YESTERDAY YOU SHOULD HAVE STOPPED SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY
AND CRUCIFIED YOUR FLESH. YOU SHOULD HAVE TAKEN SOME TIME TO
GET WITH GOD AND THEREBY CRUCIFY YOUR FLESH. BUT WHEN YOU
WOKE UP THIS MORNING, YOU DISCOVERED THAT THAT SAME FLESH
THAT YOU HAD CRUCIFIED ON YESTERDAY WAS SITTING ON THE SIDE OF
THE BED, WAITING FOR YOU TO GET UP. AND BEFORE YOU COULD GET
STARTED ON THIS DAY, YOU HAD TO CRUCIFY THAT FLESH ALL OVER
AGAIN. IN OTHER WORDS, WE HAVE TO RENEW OUR CHOICE.
SO YOUNG PEOPLE, THE QUESTION TODAY IS NOT HAVE YOU ACCEPTED
JESUS, I BELIEVE YOU'VE DONE THAT, AND IF YOU HAVEN'T YOU NEED
TO. BUT FOR THE SAKE OF THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE SAVED, WHETHER
OR NOT YOU HAVE ACCEPTED HIM IS NOT THE PRIMARY QUESTION, YOU
HAVE ACCEPTED HIM AS YOUR SAVIOR, SOME FIVE, SOME TEN YEARS
AGO, SO THAT'S NOT THE QUESTION OF THE HOUR, NOT WHETHER YOU
ACCEPTED HIM YESTERDAY, THE QUESTION OF THE HOUR IS DID YOU
ACCEPT HIM THIS MORNING. DID YOU CHOOSE TO FOLLOW HIM TODAY.
I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS. I HAVE DECIDED TO MAKE JESUS MY
CHOICE. I HAVE TO SAY, TODAY I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS.

THAT'S THE RENEWAL OF CHOICE.

SECONDLY THERE IS THE REQUIREMENT OF CHOICE. (STILL IN
VERSE 14) IT SAYS AND PUT AWAY THE GODS WHICH YOUR FATHERS
SERVED ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER AND SERVE YE THE LORD.
NOW IF YOU WILL LOOK AT THE VERSE CAREFULLY THERE ARE SOME
SHOCKING THINGS HERE. HE SAYS, PUT AWAY THE GODS WHICH YOUR
FATHERS SERVED ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER. MOSES WAS ON HIS
WAY TO TALK TO PHAROAH AND HE PASSED BY THE JEWISH GHETTO
AND TOLD THEM TO START PACKING, BECAUSE WHEN GOD SENDS THIS
LAST PLAGUE, PHAROAH WILL RUN US OUT OF HERE. AND YOU KNOW
THE STORY, THE DEATH ANGEL RODE THROUGH EGYPTS LAND AND
PHAROAH KICKED THE ISRAELITES OUT OF EGYPT. BUT WHEN THE JEWS
WENT TO PACK TO FOLLOW MOSES, NOT ONLY DID THEY PUT ALL OF
THEIR ESSENTIALS IN THEIR SUIT CASES, BUT THEY ALSO PUT THEIR
EGYPTIAN IDOLS IN THEIR SUITCASES. AND THEY RAN FROM PHAROAH
WITH IDOL GODS IN THEIR SUITCASES. AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT, WHEN
THEY GOT DOWN TO THE RED SEA, PHAROAH'S ARMY BEHIND THEM,
MOUNTAINS ON EITHER SIDE OF THEM THIS GREAT BODY OF WATER
BEFORE THEM, THEY WERE OUT THERE CALLING ON JEHOVAH GOD, WITH
IDOLS IN THEIR SUIT CASES. AND WHEN GOD BLEW WITH A BREATH OF
HIS NOSTRILS AND CAUSED THE WATERS OF THE RED SEA TO OPEN UP
AND THEY WALKED ACROSS ON DRY LAND, THEY WERE LOOKING UP AT
THE WALLS OF WATER, WITH IDOLS IN THEIR SUIT CASES. AS HE
MIRACULOUSLY GAVE THEM HONEY BREAD AND QUAIL MEAT, THEY ATE
HIS BREAD AND SWALLOWED HIS MEAT WITH IDOLS IN THEIR SUIT CASES.
AS GOD HAD WRAPPED HIMSELF UP IN A PILLAR OF CLOUD BY DAY AND A
PILLAR OF FIRE BY NIGHT, THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL FOLLOWED THE
CLOUD WITH IDOLS IN THEIR SUIT CASES. AS THEY WENT ACROSS
JORDAN RIVER VICTORIOUSLY DEFEATING THE FIVE CONFEDERATE
KINGS IN THE SOUTH AND THE 130 KINGS IN THE NORTH AND HAD SEVEN
YEARS OF VICTORY OVER THE SEVEN NATIONS THAT INHABITED
CANAAN LAND AND THEN 30 YEARS OF PEACE, BUT ALL THAT TIME THEY
HAD IDOLS IN THEIR SUITCASES. AND JOSHUA SAID YOU THOUGHT I
DIDN'T KNOW BUT LET ME BURST YOUR BUBBLES, GO AHEAD AND PUT
AWAY THE IDOLS THAT YOUR FATHERS SERVED. AND THAT BRINGS US
TO AN INTERESTING POINT FOR PARENTS, BECAUSE THESE PEOPLE WERE
THE CHILDREN OF THE PEOPLE WHO LEFT EGYPT, REMEMBER THAT
THESE PEOPLE TO WHOM JOSHUA WAS SPEAKING WERE THE CHILDREN
OF THOSE WHO DIED IN THE WILDERNESS BECAUSE OF REBELLION. AND
SO THESE PEOPLE TO WHOM JOSHUA IS SPEAKING ARE THE CHILDREN OF
THOSE WHO INITIALLY LEFT EGYPT. AND HE IS TELLING THEM, TO PUT
AWAY THE IDOLS THAT THEIR FATHERS SERVED. DO YOU KNOW WHAT
THAT SAYS, IT SAYS THAT THE PARENTS HAD PASSED THESE IDOLS
DOWN TO THEIR CHILDREN. NOW LET ME JUST ASK YOU PARENTS, WHAT
IDOLS ARE YOUR CHILDREN SERVING THAT THEY INHERITED FROM YOU.
CIGARETTE SMOKING, DRUGS, ALCOHOL, SEXUAL PROMISCUITY.
HE SAYS THE FIRST REQUIRMENT, THE FIRST CHOICE YOU NEED TO
MAKE IS TO PUT AWAY THE IDOL GODS THAT YOUR FATHERS SERVED.
PAUL SAID IT LIKE THIS, LAY ASIDE EVERY WEIGHT, AND THE SIN WHICH
DOTH SO EASILY BESET YOU.

THERE IS A STORY OF A BRILLIANT YOUNG MAN WHO HAD JUST
STARTED ON A NEW JOB, AND HE WAS NOT LIVING UP TO HIS POTENTIAL.
SO HIS BOSS PUT HIS ARM AROUND HIM AND TOOK HIM FOR A WALK, HIS
BOSS SAID, YOUNG MAN YOU HAVE THE GREATEST POTENTIAL OF ANY
YOUNG EXECUTIVE I'VE EVER HIRED, AND I NEED TO ASK YOU A
QUESTION, WHAT'S IN YOUR BACK POCKET? HE THOUGHT HIS BOSS WAS
SPEAKING LITERALLY OF HIS BACK POCKET AND SO HE SAID THERE'S
NOTHING IN MY BACK POCKET. THE BOSS SAID, YES THERE'S SOMETHING
IN YOUR BACK POCKET, I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE POCKET ON YOUR
PANTS, HE SAID DID YOUR OLD JOB TELL YOU THAT IF YOU DIDN'T LIKE
IT OVER HERE, THAT YOU COULD ALWAYS RETURN TO YOUR OLD JOB.
YES. DID THEY TELL YOU THAT YOU COULD TRY THIS OUT FOR A WHILE
BUT THAT YOU ALWAYS HAVE A JOB BACK THERE. YES. WELL, THAT'S
WHAT'S IN YOUR BACK POCKET. HE SAID YOU CAN'T GIVE THIS JOB YOUR
BEST UNTIL YOU GET THE OLD JOB OUT OF YOUR POCKET. SO LET ME
JUST ASK YOU THIS MORNING, WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR BACK
POCKET. I BELIEVE THAT SOME PEOPLE HAVE PROBLEMS SERVING GOD,
BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE WORLD IN THEIR BACK POCKET. SOME PEOPLE
CAN'T PRAISE GOD RIGHT, BECAUSE OF A LIFESTYLE THEY HAVE IN THEIR
BACK POCKET. SO YOUNG PEOPLE, ONCE YOU KNOW THAT SERVING
GOD IS A CHOICE, AND ONCE YOU MAKE UP YOUR MIND TO SERVE HIM,
YOU NEED TO GET RID OF WHATEVER IS IN YOUR BACK POCKET.