Choose Ye This Day

“And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God we will serve, and his voice will we obey.” – Joshua 24:24

It must have been a grand scene that day in Shechem when Joshua gathered together “all the tribes of Israel” including “the elders of Israel, … their heads, … their judges, and … their officers; …” He recounted in their hearing their long storied history and the rich blessings that had come to them as a chosen nation including being given a land that they did not labor for and cities that they did not build. It must have been sobering and humbling for them to understand fully the providential hand of God that had brought them to that day.

Joshua then challenged them with words that now adorn many beautiful plaques, wall hangings and Christian artwork; “choose you this day whom ye will serve … as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Much like the children of former day Israel, latter day Israel has journeyed long and hard and our generation has inherited a choice land, a promised land to which many have gathered, and yet we too like Israel in Joshua’s day need to be reminded of the providential hand of God that has brought us to this point in our history.

How he stirred in the hearts of the Reformers, Puritans and Pilgrims and brought them to this land which he redeemed by the shedding of blood … how he raised up wise men to establish the constitution and then in this crucible of freedom brought forth the gospel out of obscurity and darkness “clear as the moon and fair as the sun” (Sec. 3d) … its purpose to “open the eyes of the blind and unstop the ears of the deaf,” (Sec 83:11d) and “to be a light to the world.” (Sec. 45:2d) How he restored the priesthood long since lost, and commissioned them to declare this good news “unto the ends of the world.” (Sec. 1:4e) And by so doing prepare a place for the coming king.

And much like former day Israel, we too need to be humbled with the remembrance of God’s almighty hand and be challenged with the words “choose you this day whom ye will serve.” Perhaps for all of us “the time has come for a day of choosing” (Sec. 102:10c) Will we continue to serve the gods of our day or the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?

During this upcoming month a special call will be made to the saints to enter into a 40 day period of fasting and prayer. Specific guidance has come to the church that we do so which will be shared with all soon. We each will need to choose if we want to participate. The more that are willing participate, the greater the blessings. Saints from all branches of the Restoration will be invited to join. If we are willing, the time has come for healing in the body of Christ.

We will be scheduling a few additional prayer services on Sunday evenings during this time and will take time in our adult church school class to consider this specific counsel of the Lord and our response to it. We have already begun the process of exploring repentance so if you have not been to church school in awhile, please consider coming.