By: Dale Weckbacher
Joshua 24:15
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."
NKJV
Daniel 1:8-9
But Daniel purposed
in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's
delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the
chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
NKJV
Joshua was the man chosen by God to lead the nation of
Israel into the Promised Land. After
leading them into the Land and, with the help of God, achieving many victories,
Joshua is about to die. Joshua 24:15 is
part of his final words to the nation of Israel and expresses Joshua’s decision
to serve the Lord, urging the others to follow his lead.
As we study the book of Joshua, we realize that this
decision to serve the Lord was not a deathbed decision, but one Joshua made
prior to entering the Promised Land. In
Joshua 1:1-9 we see the account of God commissioning Joshua to lead His people
into the Land God gave them to possess.
I believe it was at the time of receiving his commission from the Lord
that Joshua made the decision to serve the Lord for as soon as he received his
commission, he ordered the people to prepare to cross the Jordan in three days
(Joshua 1:10-11). Joshua’s decision to
serve God was a decision of faith solely based on the promise of God to give
Israel the land.
Daniel was a young man who found himself living in a time
when his nation came under the rule of the Babylonian empire. As such, he finds himself relegated to living
in captivity as a government worker. His
training included not only the learning of the literature of the Chaldeans
(Daniel 1:3-4) but also eating of the king’s delicacies, some of which included
eating of foods not allowed under Jewish Law.
Daniel 1:8 tells us that Daniel had purposed in his heart not to defile
himself with the king’s delicacies. Like
Joshua, Daniel had already settled the matter in his heart and made his
decision to serve God and not defile himself long before the king’s edict.
In the interest of not offending some group or political
correctness, Christians in the United States today are being asked to abandon
their deeply held beliefs and values by being asked to,
1)
Actively participate in same sex marriages, – I
have previously written about the plight of the Oregon bakers who have now had
their wealth confiscated to pay court fines and costs, not for breaking some
law, but for simply not actively participating in a gay wedding. (1)
2)
Endanger ourselves by catering to transgendered
individuals – We now have young girls asked to undress in front of a trans
gendering individual who still has male genitals. (2)
This not only presents potential
physical harm to these young girls but also leaves an emotional scar at a time
in these young girls’ lives when they are facing many changes.
3)
Supporting radical Islam in the interest of
religious freedom (3) – Perhaps this is the most hypocritical thing
Christians and Jews are asked to do for while society asks Christians and Jews
to support and try to understand radical Islam, Christians, and Jews are asked
to curtail their own religious expressions.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukah are no longer politically correct for
they might offend atheists and people of other faiths, such as Islam. (4) Instead of asking me as a Christian to try to
understand radical Islam, I want to invite those in Islam, atheists, and those
of other faiths to make an effort to understand why keeping the name of Christ
in the Holiday by saying Merry Christmas is important to my fellow Christians
and me.
2016 is an election year.
I urge everyone reading this to become actively involved in the
electoral process and support candidates supporting traditional Christian
values. However, we must also understand
that one election alone will not change what is wrong with the United States or
our world. We therefore must determine
in advance that we as Christians will serve our God and live in obedience to
His Word no matter what society may ask us to do.
A lost and dying world must see men and women like Daniel
and Joshua standing strong in obedience to God and His Word despite suffering
persecution for their beliefs.
1. Starnes, Todd. Costly Beliefs: State
Squeezes Last Penny From Bakers Who Defied Lesbian-Wedding Cake Order. www.foxnews.com.
[Online] Fox News, December 29, 2015. [Cited: January 3, 2016.]
www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/12/29/bakers-forced-to-pay-more-than-135g-in-lesbian-cake-battle.html.
2. Harkness, Kelsey.
Why These High School Girls Don't Want a Transgender Student in Their Locker
Room. dailysignal.com. [Online] The Heritage Foundation, December 21,
2015. [Cited: January 3, 2016.]
dailysignal.com/2015/12/21/why-these-high-school-girls-dont-want-transgender-student-a-in-their-locker-room/.
3. Grider, Geoffrey.
40 Mind-Blowing Quotes From Barack Hussein Obama on Islam and Christianity. www.nowtheendbegins.com.
[Online] Nowtheendbegins, October 2, 2016. [Cited: January 3, 2016.]
www.nowtheendbegins.com/40-mind-blowing-quotes-barack-hussein-obama-islam-christianity/.
4. Silverman, Rosa.
Don't Say 'Merry Christmas' it Might Offend Someone, Says Whatehall Guidance. www.telegraph.co.uk.
[Online] The Telegraph, December 18, 2014. [Cited: January 3, 2016.]
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11300717/Dont-say-Merry-Christmas-it-might-offend-someone-says-Whitehall-guidance.html.
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