And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”     Joshua 24:15 NKJV

As you can see, our Scripture passage comes from the book of Joshua. Joshua was a young Israelite who was sent by Moses to scout the Promised Land. Out of 12 scouts, only Joshua and Caleb had enough faith in God to give a favorable report. They knew with God’s help they could go in and take over the land even with its fortified cities and giants.

Joshua trusted in the Lord and obeyed the Lord. He was appointed to lead the Israelite people into the Promised Land after Moses died. He brought them on many victorious conquests and led them to take over the cities within Canaan, the land God had promised to give them.

Just before our Scripture passage, Joshua reminds the Israelites of all God has done for them since they left Egypt. He reminds them that God parted the Red Sea as well as the Jordan River. God provided for them all their years in the wilderness. God helped them achieve victory over these cities so that they could inhabit the land God promised to give them.

Then Joshua makes a proclamation. He gives the people the freedom to choose which god they will serve, but he lets them know that as for him and his family, they will serve the one true God. They will serve Yahweh. Joshua was not only a great military or political leader, but he also was a great husband and father.

He led his family in trusting in the Lord. He led his family to serve the Lord. Are you leading your family to do the same?

In a time when many households are single women or even grandmothers trying to raise children, what about you and your family? Are you worshiping the Lord? A couple of days ago we talked about the structure of a godly church and a godly family.

In Genesis 2:18 God said, “It is not good for man to be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” This is when God formed Eve from Adam’s rib. Adam was to lead his family and Eve was to be beside him to help him in this endeavor.

Unfortunately, Adam did not stop Eve from eating the apple and Eve took the lead. We see how this turned out. So again, I ask, what about you and your family? Is your family structured correctly according to the Bible? Is there a godly man to lead? Is there a godly woman (Proverbs 31) to help her mate?

If there is only a godly woman, is she leading the household to worship and serve the Lord as best she can?

My friend, I ask these questions because all the chaos and confusion we see going on in the world today is rooted in our disobedience. It’s rooted in the fact that people are no longer accepting their God-given responsibilities. Everybody wants to talk about their rights with no talk about their responsibilities.

It doesn’t work that way. If you are a man living with a wife and/or children, you have a responsibility to lead them to worship and serve the Lord, even if it’s hard, even if they don’t want to. You must never tire of encouraging them and yes, it’s okay to insist that your child or children go to church.

So many people say, “Well, I’m going to let my child decide if they want to go to church.” Do you say the same thing about school, taking a bath, and brushing their teeth? I thank God for having a mother who made me go to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night.

Would you rather upset them now or lose them to the devil later, you must decide. If you do anything to protect your family against the evil in this world, but do not take them to church and teach them to pray and worship and serve the Lord, you are wasting your time.

If you are not worshipping the Lord, now is a good time to start. Lead by example. So, as for you and your family can you declare that you will serve the Lord? I hope so. I truly believe we are in the end times. If you love them, lead them.

Have a great day!