Surrender All

As Joshua gets near the end of his life (v. 1), he was afraid that the people of Israel, whom God had delivered “out of the land of Egypt” (Jos 24:17), might start to take “the law of Moses” (v. 6), for granted. He fears that they might become too complacent (Ps 123:4), in their walk with the Lord and allow things to slide in their lives (Deut 32:35). But that is exactly what happened (Jer 3:6), when they slid back to their old sinful ways (Hos 4:16)!

Although Joshua warned them not to follow the idolatrous ways of the people of Canaan (v. 7), Israel found themselves mingling among the heathen and serving their idols (Ps 106:36), several years later. Sadly, many professing believers today are just as guilty as Israel about compromising their faith in our Lord Jesus (Jms 4:17). They have given their affections to both “the wisdom of this world” (1 Cor 1:20), and “the god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4). They do this by worshipping the gods of money, materialism, career, and self (Mt 6:24). Often, they indulge in ungodly activities for the sake of pleasing themselves and others (Gal 1:10). Yet, they attend church services and sing “Take My Life and Let It Be” or “I Surrender All.”

Christians, we need to avoid the trap of compromise! By being transformed through the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2), and by not conforming to “the rudiments of the world” (Col 2:8). We must “abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thes 5:22)! Joshua exhorted Israel to “cleave unto the Lord,” because he saw firsthand their potential to commit idolatry and to compromise their faith (Ex 32:4). He also saw their lack of contentment (Num 11:6), and murmurings (Num 14:2). Our society today is filled with all sorts of humanistic philosophies and ideologies; we must always put God first in everything (Mt 6:33), and be willing to make a total commitment to our Lord Jesus! God bless you!

-Pastor Melito Barrera