Last year, Amilcar Hill and Rahwa Ghirmatizion were married at their child’s funeral. Now before you start to cast stones (instead of rice) at them, realize that they were simply striving to honor their son Asa. Prior to the 7-year-old’s tragic death in an automobile accident, he had been repeatedly asking his mom and dad—who had never legally wed—to tie the knot. And so they chose a most unlikely and yet very appropriate time to become husband and wife.
It’s interesting what can cause people to do the right thing. Sometimes even death’s shadow can lead to good choices. At the close of his life, Joshua presented a choice to the people of Israel. He said, “Choose today whom you will serve.” Would they choose their ancestors, the gods of the Amorites or the one true God? His choice? “As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord” (v.15).
Joshua was passionately appealing to the people for single-minded devotion to God. But what should this look like? Check out verse 14: “Fear the Lord and serve Him wholeheartedly.” When our hearts are filled with reverence and awe (fear) of God, we won’t make foolish choices out of fear of man or anything else in this world. When we love God with all our hearts and obey His Word (wholehearted devotion), our lives will glorify Him and testify to others of His reality (v.22).
What will make you choose to fully follow God? What will it take for you to make the right choice? The poignant story of young Asa and his parents is a wake-up call to all of us. Life is fleeting. God is calling us to surrender our hearts, our desires, our all to Him. Choose Him today, and begin to truly live.
More:
You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today (Deuteronomy 6:5-6).
Next:
What’s prevented you from wholehearted devotion to God? Why does God want us to love Him with all our heart, soul, and strength?
ROSHAN on July 25, 2010 at 4:44 am
Yes, Surrender to the Lord at the earliest. World is getting darker and darker and the days bitter.
Only Lord God can help us to navigate through these lean periods.
fieldlily on July 25, 2010 at 5:21 am
Wow! Thank you for this great reminder. When we make the choice to accept Christ as Lord and Savior, we are declaring that we are choosing to serve the Lord. Joshua telling the people of Israel to choose whom they would serve put the decision on them. If they only agreed for the sake of agreeing, their actions and lifestyles would soon show (witness or testify) against them. We ourselves witness against ourselves when we state that we have accepted Christ and then don’t change our lives, thoughts or actions to show we are following God. We can’t say we will follow Christ, to go along with the crowd and have our fingers crossed behind our backs like a child. Our behavior will show who we really serve, ourselves.
How can we lead others to Christ if we are not following Him ourselves? We would be just as lost and our attitudes, affections and actions would soon show this to the world.
Just as God is watching everything we do. So are others that will use our own misdirection and lies as a testimony against us if we say we serve the Lord but don’t live our choice.
Thanks again Tom Felten!
fieldlily on July 25, 2010 at 6:57 am
Just a quick note, it says in Psalm 116:18
“I will fulfill my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people,”.
I took this as a reinforcement of what Joshua told Israel about our lives testifying for us before man and God.
Thanks again!
alanmross on July 25, 2010 at 7:19 am
I must confess that much of my walk has not been “wholeheartedly”. It has been much like Paul’s anguished cry, “oh wretched man, who can save me from this self will”. It is only when He leads and I follow that my heart is whole. Great devotion Tom. Thank you.