Joshua said to the people,
"You cannot serve the Lord…" —Joshua 24:19
“It really is true to say, “I
cannot live a holy life,” but you can decide to let Jesus Christ make you holy.
“You cannot serve the Lord…”— but you can place yourself in the proper position
where God’s almighty power will flow through you. Is your relationship with God
sufficient for you to expect Him to exhibit His wonderful life in you? “The
people said to Joshua, ‘No, but we will serve the Lord!’ ” (Joshua 24:21). This
is not an impulsive action, but a deliberate commitment.[…] The person who is
still relying and trusting in anything within himself is the last person to
even come close to saying, “I will serve the Lord.” We say, “Oh, if only I
really could believe!” The question is, “Will I believe?” No wonder Jesus
Christ placed such emphasis on the sin of unbelief.” CHAMBERS
Do you struggle with unbelief? Do you wonder what that looks like? Most often we think of it in terms of some great
thing. Not believing you can walk on
water. Not believing you or someone else
can be healed of some physical malady.
Deciding to not go to some distant land as a missionary, when the call
is plain. But unbelief has a much
simpler form that has just as a profound impact on your relationship with the
Lord. Not believing that you must reject
your old way of live, not submitting to your flesh, but living in the newness
of life under the leadership of the Spirit and council of the Word. Not believing that your life will be better. Unbelief
is not believing God. It’s counter is
that you believe something else. Perhaps
that you know better. Perhaps that God is not who He says He is and you are not
who He says you are. Someone once said
that “you only believe in that part of the Bible that you obey.”
I know people who have chosen
unbelief. Their life did not end, but it
fell woefully short of what it might have been.
I know a young woman who was called to missions when she was young. But then life happened, disappointment and
heartache and she decided to not believe God going her own way. Her life went on, but it was never the same. When I see her, I see the spark of God’s
calling, but it grows dimmer with each day that passes. I know many others who started their new life
well, but chose to follow another path, in unbelief that God had a better
way. We look to Jesus for salvation but
look to the world for confirmation of that salvation. Often times the seed for unbelief is disappointment
in this life. Jesus said “You will have tribulation” (John 16:33) Why would we
think that the absence of problems is the reason to believe God? And if something “bad” happens then we reject
God and go our own way. Do you struggle
with unbelief? Jesus said of the Jews (Matthew
23:37-38) “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those
sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen
gathers her chicks under her wings, and you
were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate.” The Jews would not believe because the wanted
God to do something else. They wanted
God to send a Messiah who would conquer their enemies, and He did. He sent Jesus to conquer the greatest enemy,
sin. But they could not look past their
earthly circumstances. Do you struggle with unbelief? CHARLEY
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