(Joshua 24:15) can be classified as one of the most decisive and powerful verses in the Word of God regarding whom we’re to choose to serve. It’s a choice that we must make ourselves; and there’s no middle ground either. First of all, we’re made by God Almighty to serve Him alone by committing our lives fully to Him along with His causes. Unfortunately, sin has made its way into the world as a result of men’s disobedience. This has tremendously impacted the whole serving process by producing various types of confusions and erroneous beliefs in people’s lives.
Since men have been deceived by Satan, that fall alone has granted him the right to take part of the serving process. Sin has given him a legal right for him to operate in the lives of sinful people. He’s known as the prince and god of this world (John 14:30; 2 Corinthians 4:4), and the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God (Ephesians 2:2). It’s quite fascinating that he wanted to be served since he was in heaven by wanting to exalt Himself above God (Isaiah 14:13). Consequently, he was kicked out of that wonderful place. But we need to be very mindful of the fact that he’s still holding unto that same twisted mindset.
God Can Only be Served Consciously While Satan Can be Served Both Consciously And Unconsciously.
Having said that, there’s a huge distinction between how God wants to be served and how Satan wants to be served. God wants us to serve Him consciously, openly, and wholeheartedly (Joshua 24:14; Jeremiah 29:13; Deuteronomy 4:29). On the contrary, Satan who is known as an accomplished opportunist and deceiver can be served both consciously and unconsciously.
Many people are serving the devil while not even realizing that, but it doesn’t mean he’s not glorified by the kind of sinful lives they’re living under his massive and controlling influence. The way we choose to live our lives is a clear indication of whom we’re serving whether we want to admit or not. When it comes down to serving God, it’s a choice that we have to make voluntarily by following what He says in His Word.
Satan doesn’t require that unless you want to become a conscious servant due to the fact that living for self along with following false systems are tantamount to serving him. Serving God implies dying to self, so that Christ can live in us. On the other hand, serving Satan is based on pleasing and glorifying self which is repugnant unto God.
When serving Satan, something else gets to take the place of God in our lives. In fact, it could be an object we’re idolized, it could be money, it could be our job, it could be fame, it could be us becoming our own god, it could be false religions, and so forth. Through that type of living the enemy gets people to unwittingly fulfill his schemes. Let’s consider that statement made by Joshua.
…But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15).
Joshua made that monumental statement while having a great meeting by gathering all the tribes of Israel at Schechem during his old age. The cause of that particular meeting was to reaffirm the covenant the Lord has established with Abraham along with his descendants (Genesis 17:9).
One of the things that he did during that event was reminding them of how God had been working powerfully within their midst, how He had spared them from their enemies, how He had granted them victory upon victory, along with how faithful He had been with them by keeping His covenant, which we know is an everlasting one.
He also made it plain to them concerning whether they want to serve the Lord or the gods of their ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land they were living. These gods were nothing more than demonic spirits that dwelled in them. He later declared to them, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord”.
Upon considering this paragraph above, we see that God won’t impose Himself on our free will. There’s a great similarity between Joshua’s Statement and the passage of Scripture found in (Deuteronomy 30:19) in which God states to the Israelites that “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses”.
Well, it was a critical decision that the Jews had to make in relation to what God had done for them along with what He had in store for them at that point. God’s ultimate purpose for them was to make Himself real in their lives, so that they could have placed their faith in Him alone. Unfortunately, that wasn’t so; and they had to pay the price terribly as a result of their constant rebellion and idolatry in the sight of God.
Conclusion
The lesson that can be learned from that passage is that we all have a choice to make regarding whom we want to serve. Since there’s no neutral ground, we’ll end up serving someone either way. We can either choose to live for self by following our carnal nature and false systems that appeal to our fallen nature which equate to serving Satan, or we can choose to serve God by walking away from our old ways of lives through His only Son Christ Jesus. Lastly, one master has your very best interests at heart while the other one’s ultimate purpose is to destroy you mentally, physically, and spiritually. Whom do you really want to serve?