August 6: Joshua 24 14-18

Key Verse: Joshua 24 18
And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.

Devotion:
When Joshua called all the clans of Israel together it was to confront them with the lifestyle and to make them stop and think about what a covenant or promise is. He wanted to make them very aware of the fact that if they chose to serve God then they would not be able to serve any other god. Many had apparently settled into a dual lifestyle where they continued to do things as they always had done for God but they were bringing in new ideas which went against their teaching and even doing some things that the local people did as they served their own gods.

God is a jealous God and He wants our focus to be set on Him and not to be drawn away with various whims and temptations. Each time we give in to a temptation or follow what other people are doing against God we are walking away from serving God. We are to serve God with our whole heart and to make sure that He is the focus of our love and nothing else.

I know it can be very hard to stop what you are doing when it goes against God, especially when everyone else around you is getting involved with this thing. But we do need to remember that we have asked God into our lives and that means we should be making sure that he stays and that invitation is not withdrawn by default. It may not be that we make a conscious effort to turn away from God but that we get involved with other things which turn our attention elsewhere instead.

If you are a guest in someone’s home then you would expect to be made welcome for as long as you stay. But if you are asked to be a guest and then treated badly because the occupants would rather do their own thing that welcome you, you get to feel bad and unwanted. Think about how you are treating God in your life. Are you making Him welcome every day when you wake up or are you slowly making Him feel like an unwanted guest?

Points to Ponder:
Do you treat guests well?

How do you treat God?