Joshua 24:14
“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.”
At the end of Joshua’s life, he found himself trying to help Israel to continue to serve the LORD after his death. He understood the power of making a choice to serve the LORD and the benefits it brings. In the verse above, Joshua gives several things that you must do if you want to serve the LORD.
First, you must serve the LORD “in sincerity.” The word “sincerity” means, “being free from pretense, deceit or hypocrisy.” In other words, God wants you to serve Him without any ulterior motives. The best Christian is the Christian who does everything without any motive other than to please the LORD. God doesn’t want you to serve Him for the sake of becoming popular, but He wants you to serve Him for the sake of serving Him. God doesn’t desire the Christianity that has the purpose of being the most recognized person in their church or among the brethren; rather, God desires a Christian to serve Him for the purpose of wanting to please Him. The LORD will never be pleased with your service until you take all pretense out and serve Him for the purpose of pleasing Him.
Second, you must serve the LORD “in truth.” In other words, God wants you to serve Him according to what His Word tells you to do. Nothing should guide your actions other than God’s Word. You should not do what you do for the LORD because some man told you to do it, but everything you do for the LORD should be based off what He commands you to do in His Word. Though man may teach God’s Word, your ultimate purpose in everything you do should be focused on God’s Word.
Third, you must serve the LORD in proper priority. In other words, nothing should go before what you do for the LORD. Joshua told Israel to “put away the gods.” My friend, anything you put before the LORD is a god. If your job is more important than the LORD, your job has become a god. If friends are placed before the LORD, your friends have become a god. Anything or anyone who is placed before the LORD is a god. God doesn’t want to be second place in your life; He wants to be in first place. If you ever choose to do something over serving the LORD, whatever you chose to do is your god. Even if what you do is not bad in itself, if it is placed before the LORD it has become bad.
Fourth, you must serve the LORD daily. Joshua said in verse 15, “…choose you this day whom ye will serve…” Every day you must make a choice to serve the LORD. Serving the LORD should not be for the weekends only, but serving the LORD should be your everyday choice. You don’t have to be a full-time servant of the LORD to serve the LORD daily because every Christian should serve the LORD full-time. Be careful that you don’t make serving the LORD a penance you have to do on the weekends; instead, make serving the LORD your life.
My friend, these four things are a must if you are going to serve the LORD. Simply put, you are not serving the LORD until these four things are performed. My question to you is this, are you serving the LORD?