We Will Serve the Lord


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)

Meditation


We’re accused of being evil these days for serving Jesus Christ. When we take a stand against the hedonistic lifestyles and the everyday practices of our secular society, we are called haters. They want us to believe our faith is in a false god. We’re offered many other gods to serve these days. It could be money and material possessions, power, sex, drugs, or any number of things we pursue for our physical pleasures. There are the false gods of Islam and Hinduism. The cults of Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witness, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Scientology, among others, attract millions if not billions of followers.
There is little difference between the false gods of Joshua’s day and those being served and worshiped today. The names may be different but they all have a single source – Satan. Whether you want to believe it or not, if you spend all your time chasing after the almighty buck and what it can buy, you are serving Satan. If you bow down to Allah, you are bowing down to Satan. If you belong to one of the many cults in the world, you are worshiping Satan. If you don’t chase any of those false gods but you live only to supply your own comfort and happiness, you are right in sync with Satan. He couldn’t care less if you actually worship him. As long as you are not worshiping and serving Jehovah God, Satan is happy.
Because God gave us free will, we have a choice to serve him or Satan. We can choose to follow God or own selfish desires. We can allow ourselves to be deceived by the lure of the false gods and cults or we can turn to the Creator of the universe and give our lives to him. Don’t be fooled by the world that wants you on their side. They will dangle all sorts of trinkets and baubles in your face to entice you. Jesus is the only truth. We can be freed from the sins that bind us, if we will only repent from our ways. You see, Satan doesn’t care who, what, or if anything you worship so long as it’s not our Father in heaven. For me and my house, we serve the LORD with all our hearts, minds, and souls! Hallelujah!





Prayer Time

Heavenly Father we love you for creating us with the free will to serve you or go our own way. You could have made us to be like boring robots that do nothing but serve you. However, you don’t want mindless servants, you want thinking, loving servants. Lord there are many false gods we can worship. There are many cults that sound good to our rebellious ears. There are many distractions from the secular world that come between you and us. We ask you to help us keep our focus on Christ. When we start to wander from the righteous path, please Holy Spirit, guide us back. We thank you for forgiving our slips back into rebellion. Give us the willingness to be always listening for the whispers of the Spirit. Don’t let us forget he is always ready to warn us of our missteps. Remove the selfish streaks in our hearts and replace with the steadfast desire to always serve you in love and compassion for everyone we meet. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen!
Location: Zephyrhills, FL, USA

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