Who or What Do You Choose to Serve?

My Come Follow Me studies for this week took me to the book of Joshua in the Old Testament and a lesson titled “Be Strong and of a Good Courage.” The following information introduced the lesson. 

It had taken several generations, but the Lord’s promise was about to be fulfilled: the children of Israel were finally going to inherit the promised land. But in their way stood the Jordan River, the walls of Jericho, and a mighty people who had rejected the Lord (see 1 Nephi 17:35). And they would have to face all of that without their beloved leader Moses. The situation may have made some Israelites feel weak and fearful, but the Lord said, “Be strong and of a good courage.” What reason did they have to be courageous.” What reason did they have to be courageous? It wasn’t because of their own strength – or even Moses’s or Joshua’s – but because “the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:9). When we have our own rivers to cross and walls to bring down, wonderful things can happen in our lives because “the Lord will do wonders among [us]” (Joshua 3:5).

This scripture block teaches the following principles: (1) God will be with me as I strive to be faithful to Him; (2) The word of God can make my way prosperous (Joshua 1:8); (3) Both faith and works are necessary for salvation (Joshua 2); (4) With faith in Jesus Christ, I can experience God’s “wonders” (Joshua 3-4); (5) Obedience invites God’s power into my life (Joshua 6-8);

(6) “Choose you this day whom ye will serve” (Joshua 23-24).

I feel prompted to discuss the last principle about the wise use of agency, the choice to choose to serve God. Joshua’s teachings are contained in twenty-four chapters, and the first twenty-two chapters exhort the Israelites to “be courageous, keep the commandments, love the Lord, and neither marry among nor cleave unto the remnants of the Canaanites who remain in the land.”

The final two chapters (23-24) teach important warnings, counsel, and promised blessings. Joshua’s final words include the following verses.

14 ¶ Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.

15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods;

Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke on the topic of “Choose You This Day” in the October 2018 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He taught the following important concept. 

Our Heavenly Father’s goal in parenting is not to have His children do what is right; it is to have His children choose to do what is right and ultimately become like Him. If He simply wanted us to be obedient, He would use immediate rewards and punishments to influence our behaviors.

But God is not interested in His children just becoming trained and obedient “pets” who will not chew on His slippers in the celestial living room. No, God wants His children to grow up spiritually and join Him in the family business.