God Du Jour

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 24:15

Every morning, as I sit in my chair and pray, I first thank God for his love and grace. Then, I turn my thoughts to my failings of the previous day. I have not yet had day when I have had nothing to grieve and confess.

Daily, it seems, I follow something not-God. I plan to follow Him, but then I get distracted by other gods, pursuing money, food, affirmation, status or pride. As I still indulge in whatever god of the day that sidetracks me, I must daily ask, How did I go wrong yesterday? What do I need to work on today? Am I following God now?

Joshua, in today’s passage, placed this choice before the Israelites, telling them that they must follow the one God, or follow the gods of this world. The temptations for the Israelites were many, and like me, they wandered frequently.

Unlike the Israelites, we are not tempted by golden statues. The gods we pursue are less obvious: money, status, success, appearance and pleasure. These things may not be wrong in themselves, but anything we pursue above God becomes the god of our day.

We may have made a choice once to follow Him, but we would be fools to assume that means that we are following God now. Just as Joshua’s pursuit of God was not a one-time thing, we must continually point our lives at Him.

I do not need to quit my job to do this. I can perform my job while serving the god of money, status and success, or I can do my job asking, What is God’s will here? How can I love others as He has loved me? Who can I share my story with today?

Daily, we must face Joshua’s choice. Who or what am I following today? Am I following some god of the day, or am I following the one true God?