Thurs., 7/17/14 Devotion (Josh. 24:15c)

Today's encouragement comes from Joshua 24:15c, where we read these words:

" . . . But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

No matter what other people choose to do, God's true Christian churchmen must choose to serve Him wholeheartedly. The Fall of man into sin has left us all with the deplorable disease of "man-pleasing"; and of mindlessly following whatever new "gods" or theological fads that happen to come along.

The sincere believer must be more thoughtful and intelligent than that. If the world likes something, we ought to look askance at it, with a level of suspi-cion. This is not because we are paranoid--rather, it is because we have come to learn that idolatry is subtle, and easily slipped into.

[Puritan quote of the day: "To the extent that we give way to our will in sin-ning, to that extent we set ourselves at a distance from comfort." --Richard Sibbes, in, "The Bruised Reed"]