“As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15
This statement by Joshua came at the end of a long and fruitful life. Joshua was not a king, nor a judge or a prophet. He was a soldier, who gave his life to God. He was in the desert with Moses; He defeated the Amorites; He crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land; He conquered Jericho. If you went to church as a kid, those are your Sunday School lessons.
Joshua knew firsthand the power of God. He knew to obey and serve Him. When Joshua made the statement above, he was talking to all the Israelites and reminding them of who they were serving. At Shechem, he renewed the covenant.
Joshua was a leader by example. When he declared “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”, he was not only referring to his close family but also to everybody in his household and his sphere of influence. The rest of the people declared right there and then they, too, would not forsake God and that they would serve Him. They knew that Joshua meant what he said because he lived it every day.
What I find the most fascinating about this passage is how the story ends: “Israel served the Lord throughout the Lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel.” Joshua 24:31. What a testimony that is to Joshua and how he lived his life.
How we live our lives will influence people in our family and our community. We do not need to preach to convert. We need to live it.
Will you stand today and say, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord?”
In twenty-one years of being married to a soldier, I have been blessed with many great experiences on military bases in the U.S., in Europe and in Asia. One of those great experiences is that I have known some of the best people in the world and have called them friends. Another blessing, which is connected to the first, is the chapel ministry that we know and love, PWOC. When the call comes to move to another installation, we often feel that a division has taken place. There are emotions that occur, and they are normal. They are! They happen! I’d like to propose that changes like moving or expanding or any change in direction is not a division, but instead, a multiplication of sorts.
