ODJ: dying wish
Choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? . . . But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord (v.15).
READ: Joshua 24:1-22
Last year, Amilcar Hill and Rahwa Ghirmatizion were married at their child’s funeral. Now before you start to cast stones (instead of rice) at them, realize that they were simply striving to honor their son Asa. Prior to the 7-year-old’s tragic death in an automobile accident, he had been repeatedly asking his mom and dad—who had never legally wed—to tie the knot. And so they chose a most unlikely and yet very appropriate time to become husband and wife.
It’s interesting what can cause people to do the right thing. Sometimes even death’s shadow can lead to good choices. At the close of his life, Joshua presented a choice to the people of Israel. He said, “Choose today whom you will serve.” Would they choose their ancestors, the gods of the Amorites or the one true God? His choice? “As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord” (v.15).
Joshua was passionately appealing to the people for single-minded devotion to God. But what should this look like? Check out verse 14: “Fear the Lord and serve Him wholeheartedly.” When our hearts are filled with reverence and awe (fear) of God, we won’t make foolish choices out of fear of man or anything else in this world. When we love God with all our hearts and obey His Word (wholehearted devotion), our lives will glorify Him and testify to others of His reality (v.22).
What will make you choose to fully follow God? What will it take for you to make the right choice? The poignant story of young Asa and his parents is a wake-up call to all of us. Life is fleeting. God is calling us to surrender our hearts, our desires, our all to Him. Choose Him today, and begin to truly live. —Tom Felten
What’s prevented you from wholehearted devotion to God? Why does God want us to love Him with all our heart, soul, and strength?
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Loading ...ODB: fix your eyes
July 25, 2010
READ: Luke 4:1-13
Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. —Hebrews 12:1-2
Over and over again, my driver’s education instructor said these two words: “Drive ahead.” This was his way of telling me to focus on the horizon, not just on my immediate surroundings. Drivers who continually look to the right or to the left may well go into the ditch.
Satan is good at causing “roadside distractions” that tempt us to look at him rather than at Jesus. If he can get our attention, he may be able to get us off track and delay our spiritual progress. He even tried this with Jesus Himself!
After Jesus was baptized, Satan tried to deter Him by suggesting “better” ways to accomplish His work. Satan told Jesus that He could prove He was the Son of God by throwing Himself from the temple (Luke 4:9-11). But Jesus knew that proving He was God’s Son would come by submitting Himself to the cross, not by flinging Himself from a high building. He responded, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God” (v.12). Jesus had His eyes on our redemption, and He knew He couldn’t accomplish it by taking a detour around the cross.
The way to stay out of spiritual ditches is to fix our eyes on Jesus (Heb. 12:2) and refuse to even glance at Satan’s distractions. —Julie Ackerman Link
Satan ought not be in our line of vision, but behind us. —Leonard Sweet
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