From today’s reading...
Joshua then said to the people, ‘You will not be able to serve Yahweh, since he is a holy God, he is a jealous God who will not tolerate either your misdeeds or your sins. If you desert Yahweh and serve the foreigners’ gods, he will turn and maltreat you anew and, in spite of having been good to you in the past, will destroy you.’ The people replied to Joshua, ‘No! Yahweh is the one we mean to serve.’” Joshua 24:19-21
I think the Marines got their slogans—“A Few Good Men” and “The Few. The Proud. The Marines.”—from Joshua. (This might also be one of the earliest examples of “the takeaway close.”)
Joshua tells (warns?) the Israelites at Shechem to be careful what they ask for.
That they might not be worthy.
That there will be hell to pay if they don’t live up to their end of the bargain.
He makes it clear what it is they are signing up for. Once they agree and commit, and Joshua documents it for all to see, his work is done, and God calls him home at the age of 110.
Have you answered the call?
Have you lived up to the bargain God made with us all to serve Him in return for an eternal reward?
Have you spoken up to lead others to Him?
To walk on this journey with you?
You probably don’t have 110 years like Joshua, but even if you do, the clock has already started ticking on your life, so you only have 60 or 50 or 30 left, which means you better focus more intently than ever on doing what you have to do in order to...
Stay the course.
Keep the faith.
Endure.
Now go sell something.
