Sincerity and truth

Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of 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." – Joshua 24.14-15

Joshua’s closing challenge to Israel was brilliant. They had seen all kinds of idols and false gods and they had seen all kinds of people worshipping them. Now that the settlement and conquest was done it was time to make a choice.

So Joshua reminds them to fear the Lord. Remember, as you move on to the next phase of your lives how holy God is. Not lose that holy reverence as time goes by. Put away all those false gods and serve God. Make a choice. Don’t just serve God but serve Him in sincerity and truth.

The only way to really serve God is to so do so without holding back, no reservations, with no hypocrisy. And we must do so in truth.

There is no room for half-hearted service. There is no room for service that is not totally sold out. I think that's why Paul implores us to ‘submit our bodies as a living sacrifice’ to the Lord. We can’t jump back and forth between serving the Lord and serving our own set of false gods. If the Lord is God follow Him, if the world is our god follow it.

We just can’t do both.