As for me and my house

Does is seem evil to you to serve the Lord?

Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:14,15)

You might think you have no other gods. You might say that your fathers didn't serve any other gods. You might even tell me that God is God and if you're Christian, Muslim, or Jewish that you all believe in the one God, and He's the same for all those religions. Then again you may not believe in any god at all, or so you say. You may claim you believe in nature, or in Budda, or any other religious deity that doesn't claim to be a god.  Whatever it is you believe from 0 meaning no god, to 100 meaning God the Father of us and the declared Father of Jesus Christ, you believe in something. There is no believing in nothing, without believing in the nothing so that is something you believe in.  A conundrum perhaps but truth.  We are creatures prone to belief and by our Creator we are given that very necessary attribute. Not a single one of us of sound mind are able to say we didn't have a chance to believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ, and God the Father. A chance, we ALL have the opportunity to believe.

In the verses above we read about putting away other gods, not serving other gods, not serving the gods those who were on the other side of the flood served. We know that ALL but Noah and his family were destroyed by the flood.

Gen 6:5  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Gen 6:6  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

Gen 6:7  And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

Gen 6:8  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

We know that the wickedness of those on the other side of the flood was GREAT, that EVERY imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually! They were not serving God their creator, but gods of their own creation.

And today…

Mat_24:37  But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Mat_24:38  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

Today there is great wickedness in man, it's great in the earth, and EVERY imagination of the thoughts of our hearts is evil continually. It's sad but TRUE.

I struggle, the Lord knows how much I struggle with my own thoughts. Just the other day in a study I talked about the awfulness of my personal struggle with the thoughts of my heart. I long to belong to God, to be saved by my Savior, to be used by my Lord, to live for my Lord, with Christ in me, the Holy Spirit living in me, but I struggle! I'm in this spiritual war! It's a REAL war of the spirit and no one can convince me otherwise! I know how I struggle and I know my struggle is REAL. The horrors of this world are real. There are scores of people who believe in the gods their fathers believed in on the other side of the flood- gods of wickedness, gods void of true love, gods that deceive and warp minds so that good is considered bad and bad is considered good. People worship these gods without even acknowledging the reality of their existence. People believe they are simply walking to the beat of their own drums without any god over them, but we can't escape them. Our gods take the forms of all our selfish, self-serving desires.  It's no surprise that satan - an angel of light- sinned through his pride. He made a god of himself. 

Isa 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

Isa 14:13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

Isa 14:14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

And today… so many people do the exact same thing- they would be like the most high- their own god.

… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)

Please! Please FATHER, please we will SERVE THE LORD!  We don't want to serve any other god, not the god of self or any other! Please, we would be YOURS!

All by the mercy, the grace, the forgiveness of our Savior Jesus Christ our Lord now and forever!

AMEN.