Time to Prioritize is the first in our fall stewardship focus. The larger picture is Stewardship Legacy. This five year program will look at five different areas in the Christian life – Time, Talents, Treasures, Temple, and Truth.
We Will Do It
God’s people respond to the leadership hand picked by God with an enthusiastic response. We will serve the Lord! You might expect Joshua to be elated, but instead, he responded to that confession what we need to hear today as well: “You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. If you forsake the LORD and serve other gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you!” Joshua knows them! He knows that they have big talk and small walk. Joshua is saying, “Don’t lightly mouth your profession of faith. Don’t you know what kind of God you are dealing with? He is a holy, jealous God! You don’t dare come to him thinking, ‘though it makes him sad to see the way we live, he’ll always say, ‘I forgive.’” Our God is not a soft cuddly Santa in the sky who drools over easy lip service. He is not a God who is pleased with our strongly worded confirmation vows when they are followed by weakly lived lives. You have to be all in!
Whole Hog
I’m sure you’ve heard the hog and hen story. Both hog and hen were walking past a church and noted the pastor’s sermon title on the outside bulletin board. It read: “What can we do to help the poor?” As hogs and hens are wont to do, they entered into earnest conversation over the question as they continued on their way. At last, the hen had a bright idea: “I’ve got it!” She cackled, “We can help the poor by giving them a ham and eggs breakfast!” “Oh, no you don’t,” shot back the hog, “for you, that only means a contribution, but for me, it means total commitment.” The hog was right. That is Joshua’s point—there can be no chicken’s way out; we must go “whole hog” for Jesus.
Want to hear more? Watch this week’s message from Joshua 24, Time to Prioritize.
Book(s): Joshua
Series: Time For Everything
Tag(s): Stewardship
Speaker(s): Fred Guldberg