Choose This Day Whom You Will Serve
Choose This Day Whom You Will Serve
Delivered by God, Devoted to God: Two Patterns for God’s People
Aaron Lee | Joshua 24:1-28 | FCBCW Youth Worship | April 19, 2026
Introduction
Did I make the right choice? This is a question that haunts me. The truth is we don’t always know the outcomes of our actions. We don’t always know what will happen at the end.
Joshua 24 is a moment where God’s people are called to make a choice and it speaks directly to the decisions we’re making today.
Context
This is a pinnacle text as our journey in Joshua is coming to a close. This is Joshua’s last speech to Israel as they assemble together one last time. When Israel assembled, it wasn’t just for fun – it was to call their attention and focus on something important. We see a final covenant renewal as God’s people present themselves before him:
24 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And they presented themselves before God. (Joshua 24:1)
Sermon Preview
In our text today, we’re going to see two patterns for God’s people:
Delivered by God (so be grateful)
Devoted to God (so be faithful)
These patterns are how Israel’s relationship with God plays out. Let’s get started.
1. Delivered by God
The first pattern for God’s people is that they are delivered by God:
2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. 3 Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac. … 11 And you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho, and the leaders of Jericho fought against you, and also the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And I gave them into your hand. (Joshua 24:2-11)
Explanation
Joshua speaks as an oracle or prophet of God here — affirming his leadership, and he tells them: God is gracious and decisive in delivering his people.
The Bible uses the term deliverance to mean rescue. We talk about delivering a baby, and this actually stems from the mom and baby being freed from each other. God rescues his people from slavery, from captivity, and from danger.
God is gracious in delivering his people. God basically retells Israel’s history, starting with Abraham and ending at the Promised Land. Throughout the whole story, God makes it very clear that he is the main character. In verses 2-3, he begins by saying that Israel’s forefathers were serving other gods. So from the start, God reminds his people of their sin. Everything that follows is pure grace. It’s important to remember and understand that God’s deliverance is not something we deserve or earn. God’s deliverance is his grace towards us.
God is also decisive in delivering his people. In verses 3-5, God says, “I took Abraham, I led him through Canaan, I made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac. I sent Moses. I plagued Egypt. I brought you out.” And in verses 6-11, God makes it clear that after many battles, it was always God delivering his people. Look at the language of God giving their enemies into their hands. Israel can’t take or claim victory – God gives it to them. He hands it to them. It’s an alley-oop.
The key to understanding the purpose of this entire text, why God tells them all of this, is in verses 12-13:
12 And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out before you, the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow. 13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.’ (Joshua 24:12-13)
God reminds his people that he is the one who protects and provides for them. This is their relationship. God is the one who gives them victory over their enemies. God is the one who gives them land. God is the one who gives them food. With all this giving, the proper response is to be grateful.
Application
So, will you be openly grateful to God? I’m saying openly because there’s a type of gratefulness that takes place in our heart, and that’s obviously a good thing, but I don’t think that’s enough. If I’m talking about being a grateful husband, I don’t just thank my wife in silence – I speak to her freely to tell her and I’m eager to tell others about how great she is!
As someone significantly older than you, I admit that even I forget to give thanks to God. Jess and I moved to Walnut about 3 years ago. I made it a habit of saying that God gave us a new home. And God humbled me, because we just finished making a home office for Jess, and we were giving so much credit to our contractor, that I forgot that it is God who made it all possible in the first place. He arranges for us to find help. He provides money for us to pay. And he was the one who gave us our home. My children reminded me of that. Think of what it took to get you where you are today. From auditions to acceptance letters. And it wasn’t your doing, and it wasn’t random, it was God.
As Asian Americans, we value modesty. We don’t like to openly brag about our accomplishments, so let’s shift the attention to God. If you want to change your life, I challenge you to make God the center of your stories. Just don’t stop talking about him. Even to your unbelieving friends. To be humble is to have an honest assessment of yourself and the Christian should always find himself as the beneficiary of God’s grace. Being grateful to God is to understand God’s providence. His purposeful sovereignty. He is the conductor who orchestrates our lives and we get to play out, perform our part that has already been written.
Let’s unpack God’s sovereignty for a second. God answers to no one. No one gets to tell God what to do. And even in suffering and sorrow, God is sovereign. And he tells us his heart and all of it. He is not cold, but he cares. We must trust him. His purposes and plans are good. Because God is good. There is no evil in him. He has no ill intent upon his children.
2. Devoted to God
The second pattern for God’s people is that they are devoted to God:
14 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region 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.” (Joshua 24:14-15)
Explanation
Here Joshua applies the text to his people - calling them to serve God alone. We think of service as a job we do, but Joshua adds serving him with fear, sincerity, and faithfulness. This type of service is more than a job – it’s an entire mindset, a posture of worship. We’re talking about being totally devoted to God alone. Joshua as a leader goes first, and calls the people to meet him: God’s people devote themselves with determination and action.
To devote yourself means to give yourself to something or someone. We talk about someone devoting their life to an entire sport or instrument, and this means they commit their entire life to it. God’s people are to give their lives to him.
God’s people devote themselves with determination. The text says that they were to be sincere. Sincerity stems from the heart – it’s authentic and real – and this drives our devotion. It’s not fake or manufactured, but a strong and solid commitment. There’s an intention, an inner motive. Devotion starts in the heart.
God’s people also devote themselves with action. Devotion is not just some theoretical, abstract concept that only exists in your mind. Devotion means you do something. The text says that they were to fear the Lord and serve him. Fear and service is the language of worship. To fear God means to have reverence towards him, and to serve him means to offer everything that you have to him. Devotion leads to action.
The key to understanding this section of the text, the purpose behind it, is in verses 22-24:
22 Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” 23 He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.” 24 And the people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.” (Joshua 24:22-24)
Joshua actually calls out the people when they first say they will serve God – and Joshua says they cannot do so because they are living in sin. They have foreign gods, idols in their lives, that must be destroyed. God’s holiness and jealousy are highlighted, saying that there are consequences for idolatry and serving God with impurity. Joshua calls the people to put away the foreign gods among them. It’s a warning against idolatry and unfaithfulness. This is their relationship. He is the Lord their God, and they obey his voice. Notice that he emphasizes inclining your heart to God. Love and loyalty to the Lord alongside taking action against idols is required to be faithful.
Application
So, will you focus on being faithful? I’m saying focus because I don’t think that faithfulness is something that just happens. It takes conscious, active, purposeful following to be faithful. If I’m talking about being a faithful husband, I am not casual about my thoughts and feelings and activities with others, but I am careful!
As someone who serves at church on a regular basis, even I have to fix my focus on Jesus. I was leading worship music on Easter Sunday, and I’m going to confess to you that I wasn’t really excited about it. It’s sad because this is Easter we’re talking about. I actually wrote a list of reasons for why I should be happy to serve on Easter! But I wasn’t really excited about it because one of my idols is comfort. I love things being smooth and easy. I don’t like the hoopla that comes on Easter Sunday. I’m also super cynical, thinking why don’t we celebrate every Sunday like Easter Sunday but I think you get what I’m saying. I had to refocus. Remember what God has called me to do. I had to change my heart attitude, kill the idol of my comfort, and commit to faithful service. This could easily swing the other way of course. I could have pride in my heart or have selfish motives for serving. We really do have to be careful. But I believe that God accepted my service, as much as I can honestly say to you that I served him with a pure heart. You cannot serve, you cannot worship rightly unless you put away the foreign gods.
As Asian Americans, we value discipline and study. We give our time and energy and attention to education and practice. I say let’s leverage that and put the same effort into our actual devotional habits of Bible reading, prayer, and fasting. If you want to change your life, I challenge you to immerse yourself in the Word. Each generation must decide who they will be. Your generation of Gen Z and Gen Alpha are digital-first mindset, meaning you grew up with digital technology, being immersed in it. Our iPhones are little idols that we carry around. We are immersed in them and live online. How much screen time can you cut out of your life? And can you immerse yourself in the Word? Being faithful to God means making small decisions that lead to a changed life. With the help of the Holy Spirit, God will guide you along. The Lord will lead you and help you love him rightly.
Let’s unpack God’s aseity for a second. Aseity means that God is self-sufficient. He does not need us. He created us for his glory but he does not need us. All creation worships God, but he has crowned us with his glory and stamped us with his image. He has made man special and he chooses to want us and love us. He is not dependent on us, and yet he desires us. God needs nothing, and yet he wants to know us. The idols that we will worship give us nothing. In fact, they mostly take away from us. They will leave us feeling empty. Let's go to our God who lacks nothing, who gives freely, and who fills us with his love.
The Gospel
Joshua closes this ceremony by foreshadowing Jesus:
25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place statutes and rules for them at Shechem. 26 And Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took a large stone and set it up there under the terebinth that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord that he spoke to us. Therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God.” (Joshua 24:25-27)
Joshua sets up a stone under a tree by the sanctuary of the Lord. And when the people look at this stone, they are to remember what the Lord has said to them about how he has delivered them and they are to remember their response to him, that they would devote themselves to him.
Today, we have a tree in the cross of Christ, and we have a stone that was rolled away. We remember that God has delivered us from sin, and we respond to him by devoting our lives to him. A holy God with a holy people dwelling together. The patterns of deliverance and devotion are not just for Israel. They are for us. As we grow strong in our faith, we come to expect the pattern of God’s delivering us, and we learn to trust him more and more. And we continuously resolve to devote ourselves to him with every decision we make.
Big Idea
Christians rightly respond to God’s deliverance with devotion.
Conclusion
Did I make the right choice? The truth is we don’t always know the outcome of our actions. We do our best to pray over everything, make informed decisions, and choose wisely. The thing about God’s people is that we know how the story ends:
28 So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance. (Joshua 24:28)
My brothers and sisters, choose this day whom you will serve. The choice to serve and worship and devote yourself to Jesus is always the right choice. It will lead you to an inheritance far greater than anything you can possibly imagine. It’s not merely an inheritance of land, but it’s an entire kingdom as you become sons and daughters of the king. It’s an inheritance that can never be taken away. It’s an inheritance of the Lord himself.
Devoted and Delivered
God delivers all his people
He provides and guides our paths
All our sins washed by the Savior
Safely held within his hands
We devote our lives to love you
Casting all our idols down
And we choose to follow Jesus
Our inheritance and crown
References
The ESV Expository Commentary by Crossway
The ESV Study Bible by Crossway
The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary on Joshua by Richard Pratt
Joshua (Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary) by David G. Firth