RADICAL COMMITMENT IN GOD’S WAY
LESSON FOR THE JUNIOR CLASSES
STUDY SCRIPTURE:
JOSHUA 24:18-27
Key Verse
“Now, therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and do away with the gods which your fathers served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypy, and serve the Lord”.
Joshua 24:14
INTRODUCTION.
The Lord God has given us the mental ability and the physical ability to make choices. Every day when we wake up we have to make decisions about many, many things. We have to decide whether to get up out of bed or stay in bed a little longer. Then if we have to go to school we have to decide the clothes we would wear and the books we would put in our backpacks. Then we would have to decide whether to have breakfast or whether to skip food until lunch time. Then we have to decide whether to walk or try to get the school bus. Then we also have to decide whether we want to avoid certain people or whether we want to meet certain people.
So when you think about it there are all kinds of decisions that have to be made.
The decisions you make affect you for it makes people think of you in a particular way. Remember that the many many decisions you make all put together show your character your motivation in life and who you really are. If you make a mistake in the decisions you make it will come back to haunt you, but if you make good decisions it will most likely benefit you.
Sometimes the decisions you face are obvious powerful and effective decisions that will have immediate great effect on others. But sometimes the decisions you make will have great effects but they might not seem obvious or working in the moment.
Our Lesson Study today shows us us about the people of Israel who had been slaves in Egypt and who had been led by Moses out of that bad condition. Moses had been sent to do this by God.
He had the help of his faithful assistant named Joshua who after Moses died took over the leadership of the people of Israel.
Whatever Moses did to help the people of Israel was based on the promises God had made to Abraham, for God had promised to make the descendants of Abraham a great nation and they would have a land of their own called the land of Canaan. After Moses death Joshua took over and he led the people of Israel for many years and captured all the enemies of the nation of Israel who lived in the land of Canaan. God had helped them to do that because they were not strong enough to do it on their own. So all of them saw the miraculous power of God demonstrated on their behalf.
But now the great leader Joshua was about to die. Joshua knew that no matter how he had led the people the generation that came after him would not necessarily do what he did. So he called them all together, the leaders and the people and told them of their past and their history, reminded them about what God had done to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph. Moses and all the people of Israel and the great deeds God had done for them.. God had fed them in the wilderness and fought their enemies and protected them
Joshua made it clear that the people had to make an important decision. He had made that important decision and he told them, ”As for me and my house we will serve the Lord”.
Joshua knew that the people would only survive and stay away from destruction if they chose to follow God. If they chose to follow the gods of pagan nations they would certainly run into disaster and so Joshua encouraged them to do what was right, to act in their interests. The people listened carefully and they took several oaths to Joshua and said that they would follow God and whatever God told them to do Peter de. They would serve God and worship God alone and not the gods of the pagan nations around them. They would follow the laws of God and do what was right in the sight of God. This was good for the people listened to Joshua and his instructions and said that their oaths would be witnesses against them if they ever did what was wrong.
We must learn from this the importance of making decisions based on the choice to serve and worship God. We have to understand that we cannot do anything, right once we do our own thing. Acting in the way of God’s ways and following in the ways of God is the most important decision you will ever make and so you have to be careful.
Understand therefore that if you make a mistake you go to God and tell Him about it honestly. Don’t hide or try to hide anything from Him because you won’t succeed. God knows everything and He is all powerful. He can overcome all your problems and the difficulties you make in His own time not in your time. So as you pray to God for help and guidance remember that you have to be patient and wait on God. He will keep you because he loves you.
Joshua was strong and powerful in this last address or sermon to the nation of Israel for he wanted to encourage them to make the right decisions and to choose the right course of action. He knew that when they went into the right direction and turned their heart to follow God and go to God to repent when they did anything that was wrong, God would be faithful and will forgive them.
That is a great lesson for us and we hope that you will follow the advice that Joshua gave to the nation of Israel and make the right choices in your life and make the right decisions to follow God and His ways.