“It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. ¹⁸ And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God.” Joshua 24:17-18

As I read Joshua Chapter 24 and how the LORD, through Joshua, spelled out deliberately all that He has done for them, it made me think of the recount God may give of my life…

“Sarah, I gave you breath, your parents, your siblings, that scar on your knee. I saved your neck from being broken when you did that dumb stunt in the barn and comforted you with kind nurses when you were hospitalized from appendicitis. I protected you from that boy your parents didn’t approve of, I gave you that internship that helped you launch your career. I brought you out of credit card debt, gave you a husband and two healthy, beautiful smart daughters. I drew you into fellowship with other believers, I orchestrated that conversation with your mother-in-law that ultimately sent you searching after Me. I gave you that strong-willed personality, your passions, your drive, your heart for people.”

I can go on and on, but here’s my point. It’s all His. Everything I have, everything I am, all that I have been through – good and bad – He has had a hand in it. He disciplines me because he loves me and He reminds me that I’m not created to be prideful, self-reliant, self-serving or arrogant. He keeps me on the right path.

So today I’m praising God for my life, and I have surrendered it to Him. But when the Isrealities made that profession, here is verse 19-20, ^“Joshua said to the people, “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 foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.”

Remarkably, here is their response in verse 21-22, “But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.” Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the Lord.”

We are witnesses, all of us who are believers… Live out today, our commitment and decision to serve the Lord.