Choose Whom You Will Serve – Joshua’s Final Challenge (Joshua 24:1-31)
As Joshua neared the end of his life, he gathered all the tribes of Israel at a place called Shechem. This was an important moment. The people had finally settled in the land that God had promised them. Now Joshua, their faithful leader, had one more message to share.
Joshua reminded them of everything God had done. He spoke about how God called Abraham, led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, helped them through the wilderness, and gave them victories in the land of Canaan. Joshua made it clear: all these blessings came from God, not from their own strength or efforts.
A Clear Challenge
After reminding the people of God’s goodness, Joshua gave them a challenge. He told them to fear the Lord, respect Him, and serve Him with all their hearts. But he didn’t stop there—he told them they had to make a choice.
Joshua said, “Choose this day whom you will serve.” Would they follow the gods their ancestors worshiped long ago, or would they follow the one true God who had rescued them?
Then Joshua made his own commitment clear: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
The People Respond
The people quickly answered Joshua. They said they would never turn away from God because He had saved them, protected them, and brought them into this new land. They wanted to serve Him, too.
Joshua warned them that following God wasn’t something to take lightly. God is holy and wants their full loyalty. If they turned away later, there would be consequences. But the people insisted—they would follow the Lord.
Making It Official
To seal this commitment, Joshua made a covenant, or agreement, between the people and God. He wrote it down and set up a large stone as a reminder of the promises they had made. That stone would stand as a witness for future generations.
Joshua’s Final Days
Not long after this, Joshua died at the age of 110. He was buried in the land of promise, and the people continued to serve the Lord throughout his lifetime and even after, while the leaders who knew him were still alive.
A Lasting Reminder
This moment in the Bible is powerful because it shows us that faith is a choice. Joshua reminded the people of God’s goodness and asked them to choose—who would they serve?
Each of us still faces that question today. We may not be standing in Shechem, but we still have to decide: will we follow God, or go our own way?
Joshua’s life reminds us that choosing to serve God is not just a one-time decision—it’s a daily commitment. And like Joshua, we can say with confidence, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:1-31 (WEB)
24:1 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2 Joshua said to all the people, “The LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor. They served other gods. 3 I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his offspring, and gave him Isaac. 4 I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave to Esau Mount Seir, to possess it. Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.5 “ ‘I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out. 6 I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and you came to the sea. The Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and with horsemen to the Red Sea. 7 When they cried out to the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea on them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. You lived in the wilderness many days.8 “ ‘I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that lived beyond the Jordan. They fought with you, and I gave them into your hand. You possessed their land, and I destroyed them from before you. 9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. He sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you, 10 but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand.11 “ ‘You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand. 12 I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with your sword, nor with your bow. 13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you didn’t build, and you live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you didn’t plant.’14 “Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, in Egypt; and serve the LORD. 15 If it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond 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.”16 The people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; 17 for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and among all the peoples through the middle of whom we passed. 18 The LORD drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD; for he is our God.”19 Joshua said to the people, “You can’t serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins. 20 If you forsake the LORD, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after he has done you good.”21 The people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD.” 22 Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD yourselves, to serve him.”They said, “We are witnesses.”23 “Now therefore put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel.”24 The people said to Joshua, “We will serve the LORD our God, and we will listen to his voice.”25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 26 Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD. 27 Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the LORD’s words which he spoke to us. It shall be therefore a witness against you, lest you deny your God.” 28 So Joshua sent the people away, each to his own inheritance.29 After these things, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred ten years old. 30 They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash. 31 Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, and had known all the work of the LORD, that he had worked for Israel.