Last words are important words. After all, as life draws to a close people think about what was, what could have been, what was important and what was actually very unimportant. Those words are often a reflection of what they want the next generation to understand about life and their own conclusions that came from both regrets and getting it right.

Near the end of Joshua’s life in the Old Testament, he made a profound statement to those he had led for many years. Like today, it was a time when there were many competing ideas of spirituality, and the currents of society were often counter to the teaching of God. 

What others around us believe and do plays a far more important role in our lives than we often understand. And they are often, like in Joshua’s day, counter to the life that God designed us for. Believing life is about us, that we can make lifestyle choices to fit our convenience, that my personal priorities are mine to make, that we can be careless in our relationship with our creator and allow Him to be an afterthought in our lives. All of these are the currents of our day and it is easy to fall into those currents as we allow our lives to be molded by the prevailing culture around us. It is easy to do.

Joshua knew the temptations of conforming to those around us. Here are his words to his fellow countrymen as he knew his time was short. “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14-15.

We all make choices about life. Those are the Gods we serve. And there are many to choose from. Joshua was very clear that the goal of our lives is to “fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness.” This literally means that we throw away the competing gods in our lives, gods that the rest of society run after like money, possessions, power, status, our addictions, and the selfish living that permeates society and instead follow closely after God.

But Joshua makes clear that we all have a choice. If following our creator is undesirable to you, go ahead and do your thing. But, he says, as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. Joshua knew that this was one choice he would never regret and in this one sentence he declared his commitment to swim against the tides of society that were prevalent in his time and choose the Lord God. It was a bold, courageous and God-honoring decision. But one that he would never regret. This is the choice we make in our lives and even on a daily basis. 

Each of us will make choices today, this week and this year. The easy choice is to swim with the current. The right choice is to swim against the current and chase after God with all the energy we have. The first will bring many regrets, the second brings joy and the blessing of God. Let’s say with Joshua, but as for me and my household we will serve the Lord.

Father, Thank you for the life of Joshua and his example of what it means to choose well. Would you help me today and this week and this year choose to swim against the tide and follow you rather than the things people around me chase. Amen.