Therefore, fear the LORD and worship Him in sincerity and truth. Get rid of the gods your fathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and worship Yahweh. But if it doesn’t please you to worship Yahweh, choose for yourselves today the one you will worship: the gods your fathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my family, we will worship Yahweh.     Joshua 24:14-15 HCSB

When we hear the word heritage things like culture and legacy come to mind. Heritage is defined as referring to a person’s racial, ethnic, religious or cultural background. Different ethnicities are known for certain characteristics or certain foods.

Many people honor their heritage with large gatherings. In our area, we have an Italian festival and also a Sicilian festival which helps us non-Italians (or as my husband calls us, Merigans) to experience their foods and culture. The term Merigans is slang for Americans.

My heritage is Swedish and Irish on both sides. My paternal grandfather was Swedish while my paternal grandmother was Irish and vice-versa with my maternal grandparents. On my husband’s maternal side, his heritage is Irish and French, but he rarely caters to that side.

Anyway, I said all this to ask you what is your heritage? And do you honor it? The Jews were God’s chosen people. Way back in Genesis, God called Abraham to serve Him. He called him to move to a land not knowing where he was going. He called him to wait 25 years for a son who would be the father of the Jewish nation. God fulfilled these promises and through Abraham and his son, Isaac, the Jewish nation was born.

They were God’s chosen people. But from our Scripture passage we can see that many were not honoring their heritage. They were not fulfilling the legacy that God had chosen for them. God had promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit the Promised Land of Canaan. He promised Abraham that his descendants would possess the gates of their enemies in Genesis 22:17. This means they would conquer the land through Joshua. They were doing that with God’s help, but many weren’t honoring God.

In our Scripture passage for today, Joshua is challenging them to give up the gods of their heritage and serve the one true God. He is asking them not to serve the gods of their fathers nor the gods of those in this land that they have conquered.

Today, we must decide which heritage we will honor. You see regardless of whether we are white or black or brown or yellow or green or purple, our blood runs red. We are all descendants of Adam and Eve. Genesis 3:20 says Adam named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all living. They failed to honor God, and this led to corruption throughout their generations with the exception of Noah who continued the family line. After the flood all descendants came from Noah and his three sons. God told them to go forth and multiply. Answers in Genesis explains that we are all one race, but due to pigmentation we are different colors. The area Noah’s descendants settled in, and the environmental factors of that area determined skin color and cultural differences.

So, regardless of your racial, ethnical, cultural or religious background, your heritage began with Adam and Eve. They were made in God’s image. They were created to be in close fellowship with God. They were made to imitate God. This is our true heritage no matter where our descendants come from or the color of our skin.

We honor our heritage, by honoring our Creator. We honor our heritage by giving Him glory and honor and praise in all we do. When you die, it won’t matter if you were Swedish, Irish, Polish, Italian, Jewish or any other nationality. The only thing that will matter is whether or not you chose to serve, honor and praise the one true God.

Have a great day!