Joshua's Charge: Choose Today Whom You Will Serve

Joshua comes to the end of his life as a faithful servant, a conqueror, and now a shepherd of the nation. Joshua has already served in the background under Moses, led Israel into Canaan by God’s power, and now speaks some of his last prophetic words to God’s people. God reminds Israel that the land, the cities, the vineyards, and the olive orchards were gifts that Israel did not earn or build. The passage begins with the truth that everything belongs to the Lord, including houses, cars, emotions, priorities, gifts, talents, personalities, and every place of influence.

Joshua gives four clear calls to Israel. The first call is to fear the Lord, not with a scared kind of fear, but with healthy respect, honor, worship, and surrender. The fear of the Lord means understanding who is in charge and orienting life around where God is already working. The call pulls believers toward Scripture, prayer, personal worship, and the kind of fellowship that keeps a person connected to God and to the body of believers.

The second call is to serve the Lord in sincerity and faithfulness. Joshua’s own life shows that faithful leadership starts with faithful service, because Joshua learned by attaching himself to Moses and serving in the background before standing in front. The call to serve refuses the little cocoon where a person can attend, sit, worship, leave, and never really connect. Service to the Lord should not be drudgery, because a right heart begins to desire the things God gives it to do.

Joshua’s third call is to put away the gods their fathers served. The text presses for a deliberate shift from old traps, empty motions, and idols that can hide under names like success, comfort, wealth, entertainment, or even family. The call to put away does not mean every displaced thing is evil, because some good things become harmful when they get out of balance. The most important work in a home is not activity but discipleship, so children leave with a real faith in Jesus.

Joshua’s fourth call is to choose. Joshua refuses the easy path of just going with the flow, because drifting with the crowd is still peer pressure. Elijah’s old question fits here: how long will a person limp between two opinions? Joshua’s declaration puts the spotlight on his own house: as for him and his house, service to the Lord is the choice. That declaration carries risk, because failure may come, but God’s forgiveness keeps the fallen servant from quitting and calls him to get right back in the game.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Everything belongs to the Lord. [38:31] God’s gift of land, cities, vineyards, and orchards reminds Israel that life is received before it is managed. The passage does not leave stewardship in the category of money or property only, because emotions, priorities, abilities, and influence also belong to the Lord. A believer who understands ownership rightly stops asking God to bless a private agenda and starts asking how every part of life can be placed back into God’s hands. [38:31]
• 2. Fear means reverent orientation. [40:27] The fear of the Lord is not panic before a cruel master, but honor before the One who is worthy, powerful, and in charge. This kind of fear reorders a life so that prayer, Scripture, worship, and obedience are not add-ons but alignment. The question becomes less, “Will God go where personal preference leads?” and more, “Where is God already moving, and how should life turn toward Him?” [40:27]
• 3. Service breaks the cocoon. [43:33] The call to serve pushes against the comfortable pattern of attending, sitting, leaving, and staying safely unconnected. Joshua’s life shows that God often forms leaders in quiet places, through support, faithfulness, and attachment to others who are already walking with the Lord. Service done in sincerity is not mere church busyness, but a way God pulls a person out of isolation and into the life of the body. [43:33]
• 4. Idols can be good things. [46:10] Joshua’s call to put away false gods reaches beyond obvious rebellion into the subtle disorder of good things made ultimate. Success, comfort, entertainment, and even children can become controlling loves when they take the place that belongs to the Lord. The home that wants to honor God must examine not only what is sinful, but also what is out of balance and quietly stealing discipleship. [46:10]
• 5. Divided living exhausts the soul. [49:58] Elijah’s image of limping between two opinions names the misery of trying to keep one foot in the world and one foot in the church. A divided life does not stay hidden for long, especially from those closest to home. Joshua’s call to choose presses for a life whose private patterns and public claims are moving in the same direction. [49:58]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [33:20] - Joshua’s Place in Israel’s Story
• [34:02] - Servant, Conqueror, and Shepherd
• [36:30] - God Gives What Israel Did Not Build
• [39:42] - Four Calls from Joshua
• [39:55] - Fear the Lord
• [41:40] - Joshua’s Faithful Apprenticeship
• [43:12] - Serve in Sincerity and Faithfulness
• [45:35] - Put Away the Old Idols
• [48:18] - Choose This Day Whom to Serve
• [50:18] - As for Me and My House
• [54:06] - Limping Between Two Opinions
• [55:05] - Releasing the Wrong Inheritance
• [56:03] - What Choice Does Life Declare?
• [57:02] - Invitation to Respond to Jesus

Bible Reading

Joshua 24:13-15
“I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant. Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” [36:39]

1 Kings 18:21
“And Elijah came near to all the people and said, ‘How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.’ And the people did not answer him a word.” [49:53]

1 Corinthians 10:23
“‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things build up.” [46:12]

Observation questions

1. In Joshua 24:13, what are the specific gifts God says He gave Israel that they did not work for or build themselves?
2. In Joshua 24:14-15, what four actions is Israel called to take: what are they told to fear, do, put away, and choose? [39:42]
3. What kinds of things can become “gods” or idols in a person’s life, even if those things are not always bad in themselves? [46:42]
4. In 1 Kings 18:21, what picture does Elijah use to describe a divided heart, and what two options does he put before the people? [49:53]

Interpretation questions

1. Joshua connects God’s gifts in verse 13 with the command to fear and serve Him in verses 14-15. Why does remembering what God has given make obedience more fitting and more urgent?
2. Joshua calls the people to serve the Lord “in sincerity and in faithfulness.” What would sincere and faithful service look like in real life, beyond simply attending church gatherings? [43:33]
3. 1 Corinthians 10:23 says that not everything lawful is helpful or building up. How does that help a believer think about good things that may still need to be limited, reordered, or put away? [46:12]
4. Joshua 24:15 and 1 Kings 18:21 both press for a clear choice. Why is divided living so draining to the soul, and why does a public claim to serve the Lord eventually need to show up in private life too? [50:02]

Application questions

1. Everything belongs to the Lord, not just money or possessions, but also emotions, priorities, abilities, and influence. What part of life is hardest to place back into His hands right now? [38:31]
2. Fearing the Lord means honoring Him and orienting life around where He is already at work. Which spiritual habit most needs attention right now: Scripture, prayer, personal worship, or obeying something already made clear? [41:13]
3. Service breaks the cocoon of staying comfortable and unconnected. Where might there be a tendency to attend, sit, leave, and stay mostly isolated? What would one step toward sincere service look like this month? [43:33]
4. Some good things become harmful when they get out of balance. Is there anything good—comfort, success, entertainment, family routines, even care for children—that may be crowding out love for the Lord or discipleship in the home? [46:42]
5. “Choose this day” calls for a real decision instead of drifting with the crowd. Where does going with the flow feel easiest right now, even if it leads away from wholehearted obedience? [49:17]
6. “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” is a declaration of influence in the home. What would that choice look like in the everyday tone of home life: conversations, schedules, repentance, forgiveness, and the way people speak to one another? [52:28]
7. God’s forgiveness keeps fallen servants from quitting. If there has been failure, inconsistency, or divided living, what would it look like to repent honestly and get right back in the game rather than giving up? [51:17]