Tuesday

In Joshua 24, Joshua calls the people to choose and he gives 4 options. Think of these 4 options as points on a compass. Because whatever you choose is going to lead you in a different direction. Each category has to do with a time and a place in life. For the next 3 days, think about which direction you have been heading.

***Disclaimer: Today is a little longer than usual, but the concepts are connected so I thought it best to combine them.

Option 1: The gods of your upbringing

"…the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River…"

Long before God spoke to Abraham and made a covenant with him, the ancestors of Abraham worshiped the gods of Mesopotamia. In that region there was a god for every conceivable purpose. In fact, Abraham's father was an idol worshiper. Belief in these gods persisted even after the rise of the Hebrew people, through the time of Egyptian slavery, and up to Joshua's era. And now Joshua wants to know if they are simply going to default to the gods of their forefathers.

We were raised and we raise the next generation based on faith—or the lack thereof. Idols are raised in our homes teaching who or what is worthy of our worship. We often end up worshiping whatever god they worshiped. The "law of exposure" suggests that our lives are determined by our thoughts, and our thoughts are determined by what we are expose to. Our minds absorb and our lives ultimately reflect what ever we are most frequently exposed to. It should be surprising then that we have a tendency to worship the gods of our fathers and mothers.

Think about how this is true for you and the family you were brought up in. Is it possible that the gods that are at war in your life are the same gods your parents and grandparents worshiped when you were younger? Did your dad worship sports, a job, sex, money, status,  or beer? Did your mom worship shopping, career, children, entertainment, or appearances? Don't just skip over these examples. Think about what was held up for you in the home you grew up in.

What would you say are some of the gods of the family in which you were raised? What were the things that were held up as most important?

The most natural path in the world is to adopt the gods of our parents. Perhaps it is time to take a different path.

Option 2: The gods of your past

"…the gods your forefathers worshiped…in Egypt…"

Joshua specifically mentions the gods from the time of slavery in Egypt. These were the gods of the previous generation. These were the gods of their past that never went away. Like the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians had a diverse and highly developed pantheon of deities. They worshiped nearly everything, including sun, moon, and stars. And since the Hebrews were Egyptian slaves longer than the US has been a nation, there is no way that they were going to endure that period without absorbing some of the culture around them. Old habits, including old worship patterns, die hard. Even while traveling to the Promised Land the people wished they could go back to Egypt (Exodus 16:2-3; 32:1-3). Even 700 years after the Exodus from Egypt, Ezekiel had this to say to them: "Each of you, get rid of the vile images you have set your eyes on, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt" (Ezekiel 20:7). Even after experiencing salvation they just couldn't let go of their pasts.

It happens to Christians too. We invite Jesus to come into our lives—to take the throne of our hearts. Everything is great, but then we find our baggage has come with us. Stuff that should have been destroyed a long time ago managed to come along for the ride. Old desires, old habits, old addictions make an appearance in our new lives. The problem is not that we need to choose to follow Jesus; the problem is that we have tried to follow him without leaving something behind. Old gods die hard.

Do you ever find yourself struggling with things from the past that you thought you had left behind a long time ago?

What do you need to do to rid yourself of them for good?