In the Old Covenant, God never forced His people to serve Him. Of course God desired that His people feared Him and served Him in sincerity and truth and that they removed the other gods from their lives, but God didn’t force them. The Lord gave His people the ability to choose to serve Him or other gods. God is still the same and ‘choose this day, whom you will serve’ still applies. God still gives people the choice to choose whom they want to serve. But people need to make a decision to serve God or other gods, they can’t serve both. Who do you choose to serve?
Choose this day, whom you will serve
Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:14-15)
When Joshua was old and stricken in age and his time arrived to go the way of all the earth, he gathered the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel and their heads, judges, and officers and they presented themselves before God.
Joshua spoke in the Name of the Lord about the mighty works of God and how God provided for them in the wilderness and kept His promises.
Joshua told the people to fear the Lord and serve Him only, in sincerity and in truth. He commanded them to put away the gods which their fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt.
But if it seemed evil to them to serve the Lord God, they had to choose that day, whom they wanted to serve; the gods of their fathers or the gods of the Amorites in whose country they lived.
The Israelites had three options to choose from whom to serve:
- They could serve God their Deliverer,
- They could serve the gods of their fathers
- Or they could serve the gods of the land they lived
Who are the other gods?
If God mentioned other gods and told His people they had a choice to follow and serve God or other gods then this means that there were other gods. Were they the true God; the Creator of the heavens and earth and all there is within? Kāore, they were false gods, imitators of the One true God.
They were not only the imaginations of people, but they were (and are) real in the spirit world. They revealed themselves to the people and the people transformed them through their hands into the natural realm into (visible) idols and bowed down to them and served them.
In reality, these gods were (and are) demons (fallen angels operating from the darkness). They are the principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord God
Joshua chose to serve the Lord God, their Deliver, with his house. Joshua didn’t want to serve the gods of his fathers (the gods of Egypt). Nor did Joshua want to serve the gods of the Amorites in whose land they lived.
Joshua chose to stay faithful to God and obey His words. He chose to do all that is written in the Book of Moses and not deviate from it.
The people also chose to serve the Lord. However, Joshua knew that they would leave God and serve other gods.
Joshua knew that they couldn’t remove the gods of their fathers and the gods of the land in which they dwelled from their lives.
No reira, Joshua said, that they couldn’t serve the Lord. Since God is a holy God; He is a jealous God, and would not forgive their transgression nor their sins.
If they would forsake the Lord and serve strange gods, then God would turn and hurt and consume them, after He had done them good.
Despite Joshua’s words and prophetic insight, the people kept saying that they would serve the Lord and obey His voice (Joshua 24).
But the words of Joshua came to pass. The people were not faithful to God but chose to serve the strange gods instead of serving the almighty God.
How could God’s people turn away from God and serve false gods?
You might wonder, how it is possible that after God delivered His people from the house of bondage and after all those great signs and miracles that were done by the living God, the preservation of God during their journey, the victories over their enemies, and receiving the blessings from God, the people turned away from God and turned to the strange gods of their fathers and the pagan people, who led them to sin and brought mischief (evil) in their lives? But it happened.
And this still happens. Even in the New Covenant, tokomaha nga tāngata, who chose to serve Jesus Christ and repented, but after their redemption they didn’t remove the gods of their fathers or their country, from their lives, or after a while they depart from the words of God and return to the gods of this world aka the poor worldly spirits (the beggarly elements of this world).
The devil and his army are still active today
The devil and his army (the principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places) that were present and active in the Old Covenant and deceived the people and led them astray into sin, are still active in the New Covenant.
Nothing has changed in the spirit world and the laws of God’s Kingdom. The only thing that has changed is the renewed covenant, the change of priesthood and kingship, and the restoration (healing) and position of man by faith in Christ and regeneration in Him.
The difference between then and now is, that in the Old Covenant, there was only one generation of people, namely, fallen man.
God’s people belonged to the generation of fallen man. Due to the fallen position of people, the people were subject to the powers and principalities of darkness.
Therefore God took His people by the hand to lead them out of Egypt and strove for them.
But in the New Covenant, those who believe and through regeneration in Christ have become a new creation, are reconciled with God and restored (whakaorangia) from their fallen state.
They no longer live in bondage under the rulership of the devil, hara, me te mate. They are no longer subject to the demonic powers, rangatiratanga, and rulers of darkness that reign through the flesh.
Through the dead of their flesh and the resurrection of their spirit from the dead in Christ, they are no longer controlled by them, but in Christ, they reign over them.
God has given power to become sons of God and to serve God
They have received all power from God to become sons of God (both males and females) and to serve God and obey His words and commandments.
God gave them all power to live holy and righteous and to stand in the evil day, resist the devil and sin, put off the works of the flesh, and reveal the works of darkness and destroy them.
Heoi ano, the people decide, whom they want to serve and whose words to believe and obey.
Because as in the Old Covenant, God never forced His people to serve Him but gave them His words, warnings, and the result of the choice(s), the Lord God and His Son Jesus still don’t force people to serve Him.
Chose this day whom you will serve is still effective
Every person decides to serve God and His Son only and obey His voice and stay faithful to His Word and His commandments, which are written on the heart of the new man through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, or to serve other gods and return to the beggarly elements of the world (spirits of this world) and trust upon the worldly wisdom and knowledge and provisions, and find joy, happiness, and peace in the (mo te wa poto) things and pleasures of this world.
God gave His Word and revealed the truth and warned the people through His Word, but it’s up to the people what they decide to do.
Do they believe the words of God and do they consider His words as the truth? Do they live according to the words of God and take His warnings seriously or not? It’s up to the people to decide and to choose whom they will serve.
Who do you choose to serve?
You also make a choice whom you will serve. The choice you make shall have consequences for your life. This is something you should realize.
If you decide to serve Jesus and the Father, you can’t serve other gods. You can’t serve Jesus and the gods of your parents and family, nor the gods of the country you live.
You can’t serve Jesus and walk in darkness and live like the world. Since the light and darkness don’t go together.
If you decide to serve Jesus, then it’s not an addition to your old life, but a change of life.
The decision you make to serve Jesus means the death of your old life after the flesh and a new life after the Spirit in Him. (Panuitia hoki: The Circumcision in the New Covenant).
Ka mea a Ihu, that as long as you love your life in the world, you can’t follow and serve Him.
Therefore Jesus said, that you should count the cost before you decide to serve Him (Matiu 16:24-26, Mark 8:34-37, Ruka 9:23-26; 14:28, 1 Hone 2:15-17).
When you have counted the cost and know what following Jesus means for your life in the world, only then can you make a conscious decision to follow Jesus and serve Him wholeheartedly, and stay faithful to Him, and not commit (wairua) adultery with the world.
If you choose to serve Jesus, you shall not walk in darkness
If you choose to serve Jesus, and through regeneration in Him are transferred from the darkness into the light, you shall have nothing to do with the darkness and her gods.
Through the reconciliation with God, the transfer of kingdom, and the change of nature, you shall no longer want to walk in darkness and keep doing the works of the flesh (hara).
Because as He is in the light, you shall walk in the truth of God’s Word in the light and put off the works of the flesh and do righteous works.
You shall break free from your culture and the gods of your parents and ancestors, and/or the gods of the country, you live, that leads to sin (disobedience) and apostasy from God.
You’ll no longer submit to the poor beggarly spirits of this world that reign in the lives of the ungodly, who live in darkness. You shall no longer be led by them, as before your repentance, when you belonged to the world.
You shall no longer walk according to the prince of the power of the air that works in the lives of the children of disobedience, who don’t know God and walk in the lie in darkness and live in sin.
But you shall walk according to the Word and be led by the Holy Spirit and walk in the truth of God in the Light.
No reira, when you choose to serve Jesus it may lead to the loss of (the relationship with) your father, mother, brother(s), sister(s), son(s), daughter(s), grandchild(ren), in-laws, hoa, and acquaintances. (Panuitia hoki: Following Jesus will cost you everything!).
Serving Jesus can even lead to leaving the local church, where they’ve rejected Jesus (te Word) and allowed sin, and as a result, are seated in darkness.
The choice for Jesus means peace with God but enmity with the world
If you’re baptized in Christ and clothed with Christ and have peace with God, you have become an enemy of the world. E kī ana te Word, that the world shall no longer love you but hate and reject you, just like Jesus. That’s because you don’t belong to the world anymore but to God. Through the righteousness in Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, you testify that the works of the world are evil.
Therefore those, who belong to the world and bear the fruit of death, which is sin, won’t or can’t be in your presence. Unless they hate their lives in darkness and works of the flesh (hara) and seek deliverance (Hone 7:7; 15:18-27; 16:8-11, 1 Hone 3:1, 13; 4:4-6)
You shall only serve the Lord
Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve (Ruka 4:8)
If you think that the devil shall leave you alone after you choose to serve Jesus, then you are wrong. For as long as you live, the devil shall not cease to tempt you to sin and win you back for his kingdom and pull you into the darkness.
He does this through the flesh, the things of the world and through the people, who are close to you and whom you love. Especially your unbelieving family members or family members, who say they believe and religiously go to church, but live like the world in darkness.
The devil shall do everything in his might to ensure that you leave God and His Word and compromise with the world (pouri) and works of the flesh and give in to the will, karekau, kare-a-roto, hiahia, me nga hiahia o te kikokiko.
The flesh is his territory, but if your flesh has died in Christ and you no longer live, but Christ lives in you and you walk after the Spirit, then the mission of the ruler of this world, his army, and those who belong to the world and live in sin in darkness, shall not succeed.
The discernment of spirits
No reira, it’s important that as soon as you become born again you renew your mind me te Kupu a te Atua. So that you will get to know the truth and the will of God.
Then you shall be awake and recognize the lies and cunning craftiness of the devil. And instead of being deceived through his lies and cunning craftiness and giving into his temptations, you shall resist the devil and refute his lies and reject his lies.
In the power of the Holy Spirit, you shall resist all the temptations of the devil and his army. You shall not bow down to them and give into them through compromise.
Every day, you decide, whom you shall serve: Jesus Christ your Saviour, Deliverer, and Lord and King of the Kingdom of Heaven, or the devil, the ruler of the world (pouri).
When do you serve the devil?
When do you serve the devil? You serve the devil by living like the world (as before your repentance and new birth) after the will, hiahia, and desires of the flesh and doing the works of the flesh.
For example, idolatry is a work of the devil (heathen religions, (Eastern) philosophies and their rituals, occultism, etc.). Witchcraft is a work of the devil. Sorcery (magic) is a work of the devil.
Lying is a work of the devil. Divorce is a work of the devil. Living together unmarried and sexual relationships outside the marriage covenant or with someone of the same gender or with yourself are works of the devil.
Stealing, materoto, euthanasia, (excessive) drinking, anger, wrath, taking someone’s life or taking your own life, envy, covetousness, strife, heresies, and so on, are all works of the flesh controlled by the powers of darkness.
A child of God doesn’t do these works, but serves God and stays faithful to Jesus (te Word), and does what He says.
Whom you love, you will serve
If the love for Jesus Christ is greater than the love for yourself and the world, then you shall be able to serve Jesus and stand and stay faithful to Him and the Father. You shall not be tempted to sin and serve other gods through the flesh.
But if you still love the world and love the pleasures and things of this world and don’t want to put off the works of the flesh, then the Word has no place in you and you can’t serve Jesus.
You belong to the one you listen to and whose words you believe and obey. The one you listen to and obey is the one you love and serve.
'Kia tote o te whenua'
