“As For Me and My household”

Joshua 25:15

Pastor Manny Ojeda

A family of turtles decided to have some quality family time and go on a picnic, it took them seven years to finally get to their destination for they were so slow. For about six months they cleared the area, unpacked the picnic basket, and completed the arrangements. They discovered, however, that they had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed.

After a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the salt at home. Although he was the fastest of the slow-moving turtles, the little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell. He agreed to go on only one condition: that no one would eat until he returned. The family consented and the little turtle left.

Three years passed—and the little turtle had not returned. Five years. Six years. Then in the seventh year of his absence, the eldest turtle could no longer contain his hunger.  He announced that he was going to eat and began to unwrap a sandwich. At that point, the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree shouting, “SEE! I knew you wouldn’t wait! Now, I’m not going to get the salt.”

Without family what would we do? In the book of Joshua Chapter 24 the Israelites led by the great and mighty Joshua have finally reached their destination. I’m not sure if you can call it a destination exactly, maybe we can say that they have finally graduated from desert dwelling slaves to land owners of the land that is flowing with milk and honey, or maybe we can say that their ship has finally come in. Whatever we call it, it’s been a long time for these slaves, turned desert wanderers, turned, people of God, turned land owners. The bottom line is, WE’VE FINALLY MADE IT! That’s definitely how I felt when my wife Clari and I walked into our first home and began to move in.

The Israelites did just that, it must have been like the westward expansion back during the gold rush of 1849. Before the stampede of chariots and wagons could begin their journey to their new homes, old mighty Joshua, the assistant to the late Moses stood in the middle and called for a holt. What could possibly be the holdup now? Well as always God. Surprised, don’t be, lets read together verses 14,15 of chapter 24 of Joshua. “  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 you the Lord. And if it seems evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you 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.”

Notice the timing of this great advice, before they could go off and begin their new lives, Joshua the good pastor that he was made sure the people began their new lives right. How could anyone begin to live without first serving the Lord?  This great equation was the command that Joshua had received from the Lord in chapter one of the book of Joshua, now as the people hurried to take on their promised lands, they are reminded once more to fear God and serve Him always. Let’s unwind this story a little further.

The Israelites have finally entered that rest; this is an interesting word, because it is not just to sit down and relax, but to enter into a state of peace.  Hebrews 4:1 also talks about this rest as an activity that comes as a gift form God; a gift of accomplishment. Who’s accomplishment? Well here in Joshua we see that this great rest is based on the accomplishments of God for His people.  After all that the Jewish people have been through; the wars, the famines and hungers, God has brought them to the promised land of rest. How are they to enter this rest though, that is the one million dollar question.

Before they could reap the benefits of God’s rest, they were required to serve God, not each man or woman by themselves, but as a family unit. Notice the words in Joshua 24:15, “Joshua stated that as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”  Let me just get to the point, the people could not inhabit the Promised Land, without committing themselves as a family to God. Family is the gold of society.   As a matter of fact, in the days of Abraham, Isaac, and the exodus, tribes which were basically units of families were organized and made into a mini society within the nation of Israel. Here in Joshua 24:15, Joshua is handing over great accountability to the family units.  These were units that were great enough to raise nations and protect them with armies. Since these units were so great, they were held to great accountability in the eyes of God.

Today my friend it is no different. Our families are units that are in essence mini societies. As a matter of fact, the other day I heard a saying that stated that when divorce occurs, a mini society just went extinct. Family is the most precious thing that we have on Earth.  For that reason, our families must be dedicated to serve God. The question is how do we serve God? Is serving God making sure that we get our name on the cleaning list of the church? Is serving God adopting a child, or feeding another hungry family?  Yes and no, serving God begins in our home. Notice how the people of God in Joshua served God, we read in chapter 24:23, “Now therefore, put away the foreign gods which are in your midst, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel." What does a foreign god look like?  I think a foreign gods comes in the form of careers, books, the big flat box connected to a satellite or cable, the smaller box connected to a high-speed cable connection called the internet, arguing that sound like the war that we see on T.V. every night, threats of divorce and threats of abandonment, the clock that reminds you to work rather than play with your kids. These are the gods that dwell in our homes. These are the gods that threaten to separate us from the one and only God that tells us in Matthew 11:28 to come to Him that he will give us rest because His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Can it be that our families are infested with foreign gods? Joshua saw the infestation and before he could let the people enjoy the Promised Land, he not only asked them to give their families to God, but he took the first step and gave his own family to God first. Why is it so important to give our families to God?  Healthy loving families are the fiber of society. In the book of 1^st Timothy 5:4, we read that piety is learned first in the family. Some feel that churches, schools, and clubs are there to instruct our children.  I agree with the saying that it takes a village to raise a child, but I must interject and emphasize that the parent must have the role of placing the value in the child and the role of the village is to support the values that the parents have set.  The scariest thing today is that parents actually allow schools to have the last word on the education of their children; parents actually send their kids for 7 hours a day to be taught values by a stranger.  The morbidly dangerous thing is that we are talking about schools that are not allowed to have prayer and also teach that God is not our origin.

Joshua goes to great lenths to instruct the people to serve God in their families because in family begins values that help the child know right from wrong, family is where the cornerstone of Jesus Christ can be placed to build a great skyscraper which can reach and touch the face of God. In the family home, kids learn to love, to respect, to revere, to believe in the value and beauty of marriage as the example of what Jesus feels about us.  When you are part of a family where mom and dad treat each other like Jesus treats the church, we have just built a future society that can never fall for it is grounded in God Himself.

How do our families serve The Lord?  Well we have already made it clear that serving the Lord begins in the home, it begins with the habits that our families have and the way that we as family interact with each other. Service begins with the head of the household. When I was a pathfinder in my hometown church I was a monkey. How did I know that I was a monkey, well because my counselor always warned me that monkey see, monkey do. I loved to imitate the older kids in how they dressed, acted and even talked. Our homes also become zoos, because our kids see and imitate everything that happens there. One imitation that worries me is the imitation of mom and dad. What you as an adult do at home, is what your child will imitate for the rest of his or her life. Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:1 to be “Imitator of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” As we are imitators of Christ in our homes, our children will be Imitators of Christ as well throughout their lives. What a great burden to place on our shoulders. How can we do this? The answer lies in the concept of ‘love your wife as Jesus loved the church”. (Ephesians 5:25). Love your kids the same way. Today’s society is filled with murder, divorce, rape, incestual relationships, pedophilia and many more inhuman activities, where do you think these come from?

How can we therefore serve The Lord in our families as we prepare ourselves to enter the new Canaan of heaven; as we prepare ourselves for the second coming of our Messiah? We must dedicate our families to God, we must build up our families as a mini society where Christ’s values rule, and we must ourselves lead through the imitation of Christ.

My dear friends, we are on the brink of eternity, time is short and times are hard and getting harder.  Let us dedicate to the Lord God today our families and let us do that through allowing Jesus Christ to be the Messiah of our homes and let’s give all to Him so that all those other god’s may have no place in our homes.