Many Christians display in their homes their answer to Joshua’s admonition to choose whom you will serve. It’s the same answer Joshua gave. “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” At our house, we declare it on the doormat outside our front door. Perhaps at your house it’s hanging on a wall, propped on an easel, embroidered on a pillow. Or just there in your Bible on the shelf.
When was the last time you noticed it? Asked yourself if it’s true? Considered what your life would look like if it was?
One of my kindergarten students once informed me, with a trace of righteous indignation and in that way children have of being brutally honest, that I served the devil. Lesson learned: don’t teach a five-year-old to follow a scripture you haven’t been living up to yourself.
This very cute little boy was one in a rather big handful of challenges I was coping with that year. Convinced he didn’t need school because he was going to grow up and be a dad, motivating him to learn was like trying to move a mountain.
I know you only need the faith of a mustard seed to do that, but faith was in short supply.
So was my patience.
Finally, weary of beating my head against a wall and as disgusted with myself as I was frustrated with him, I attempted a fresh start. One morning before class, I took him aside and apologized for being so short-tempered. I promised I would try to be more patient and understanding, asked his forgiveness, which he freely gave, and asked him to help me by trying himself, even though school wasn’t his favorite thing, to be a more willing worker, which he agreed to do.
Back in class, with high hopes for a better day, I started the devotional lesson. Joshua 24:15. “Choose you this day whom ye will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
As I talked about the choices we make and who they serve, or don’t serve, this little boy called out, “Well, you serve the devil ’cause you yell at me!”
My sins were forgiven but apparently not forgotten.
How Black and White is This Choice?
I wouldn’t go as far as saying I served the devil. That wasn’t then and never has been the desire of my heart.
But I made that devotional lesson about a choice between two people. Two sides. Will you choose the Lord or the devil? Good? Or evil? I painted the picture black and white. So, it’s no wonder that little boy saw it that way. When he knew my behavior toward him hadn’t exactly served God, “You serve the devil!” must have seemed a logical conclusion and a just accusation. (While we’re being logical and just, I could point out that he was no angel himself, but–just because the pot calls the kettle black doesn’t mean the kettle isn’t still black.)
I think the big picture, not just of our individual lives but the world’s entire story, is pretty black and white. The battle is between good and evil. Jesus Christ and Satan are both fighting for our souls, and we do have to make a definitive choice who we will stand with. The scriptures reprove fence-sitters.
“Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”
“No man can serve two masters.”
Really, there are only two to choose from. “And now if ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd, of what fold are ye? Behold, I say unto you, that the devil is your shepherd, and ye are of his fold.”
Black. And white.
But that’s the aerial view of the battlefield. Zoom in and things get a little more diverse. Perhaps a little less what you thought they were.
There are still only two armies. But the people who form them come in all shapes and sizes, and recognizing who truly serves who takes some discernment.
The Heart Reveals Who You Serve
If you could fly a drone over a Civil War battle, you might see a swarm of blue on one side and a sea of gray on the other. It would be obvious who professes to serve what army.
Fly your drone into the fray and you’d find those uniforms, which seemed so uniform from a distance, in all stages of wear and tear. Some new, some in rags. Some somewhere in the middle. There may be various shades of blue, and some grays might have devolved to dingy browns.
Even in their varied array, you could probably still differentiate Yankee from Rebel. You wouldn’t assume an infantryman in dirty, once-gray rags is now fighting for the North just because his uniform isn’t as pristine as the officer on a horse wearing an unmistakably gray coat with gold braid. They are still in the same army.
But be honest. Who would you guess serves it better? Who’s a greater asset?
For better or worse, both uniforms tell a story of their wearers’ loyalty. If you judge the uniform before you know that story, you may very likely be deceived by appearances.
That regal officer may be exactly the man you want leading you into battle because he’s seen a few himself. His merits earned his authority, and he wields it with integrity. He’s worn his own share of rags and washed off his own share of muck. He can lead you because he knows you. He was you.
His spotless coat might also mean he’s never been in battle, won’t lead you into one, let alone through it, and only ranks so high because he was charming or fortunate enough to have connections.
A soldier in rags may be untrustworthy. Lazy. Someone with a laundry list of shortcomings who’s stopped caring. Who doesn’t want responsibility. Who doesn’t want to grow. Who’s content, or just bitterly resigned, to his lot.
He might also be a warrior. His uniform is worn to shreds because he wore it. Marched the endless miles. Ran into the flying musket balls and exploding cannons. Fought a long, hard fight, and is still going. The marks of war on his uniform are an outward representation of the marks of valor in his heart.
When God wants to know who you serve, he might see the color you wear and note the condition of your uniform. Both hint at something. But mostly he’s just going to look into your eyes. That’s where he finds what the color and condition of your uniform hint at.
You can’t truly know who a person has chosen without looking at the heart.
Serving the Lord is an Ongoing Choice
I don’t really remember how I responded to that little boy’s comment, but I think I brushed it off too fast and missed an incredible opportunity to teach my class about the power of repentance.
It was true I’d made some wrong choices, handled some situations and myself in a way that didn’t reflect the God I served. Perhaps I’d borrowed some of the devil’s ways.
But I hadn’t deserted to his side.
My uniform was torn. Stained. But it was still the Lord’s.
And he could mend it. Make my scarlet sins as white as snow.
Serving the Lord is a choice you have to write on your heart. That’s the part of you that can’t afford to sit on the fence. The part that’s black and white. Do you want to walk with God or not?
I do. With all my heart.
But the actual walking with him? That part’s pretty colorful. Full of stumbles and falls and dirt and stains–not all of your own making. The devil doesn’t like your choice. He’ll sabotage you wherever he can.
Consider how precious a soul must be, when both God and the devil are after it.
Charles Spurgeon
But that walk with God can also be full of healing and happiness if the choice written in your heart is one you choose to make again every time you fall short. If every time you’re knocked off your feet, you’re answer is still, “As for me, I will serve the Lord.”
When we’re all gathered to be counted at the end of the war, you might look a mess. Bruised and scarred in a uniform almost unrecognizable under all the filth of battle. Probably feeling pretty hopeless as you stand beside immaculate others.
But whether God says, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” or, “I never knew you: depart from me,” all depends on what he sees when he looks in your eyes. He’ll know you under all that dirt if you know him.
How will he know you know him?
He’s going to look at who else you chose.
What Serving the Lord Looks Like
Being single gives you lots of time to observe other people and realize what you want for yourself and what you don’t want. Witnessing broken marriages as well as working ones, my prayers for my husband, whoever and wherever he is, are a heartfelt plea not only that he will choose God but that he will choose me. That he will choose our children.
What does that man look like? He’s virtuous. Clean in his thoughts, speech, and habits. Honest. Humble. Firm in his convictions, but also soft-hearted and teachable. That’s a man I’d trust myself and my children to.
The next part of that prayer is that God will help me be a wife worthy of such a husband. A woman worthy of such a man. “Heavenly Father, please help me choose him.”
There are more people to choose in the battle than just the general of the army.
Do your thoughts choose your spouse? Does the tone and volume of your voice choose your children? Do your habits choose your coworkers? Does your attitude choose your parents? Do your words choose your siblings?
If they don’t, how loyal are you to the general, really?
Those who serve the Lord serve each other. As King Benjamin said, “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.”
So, choose whom you will serve. I hope it’s the Lord. Write his ways on your heart. Know you’ll live up to them better some days than others. Also know there’s a Savior on those other days to pick you up. And remember God isn’t the only one on this battlefield who needs you.
Thank you for reading. Please leave a comment and share this post with others if it has in some way blessed your life.
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