I am in the belief we are standing at a crossroads of a sort. I mentioned in a post last week that I can sense humanity is on the verge of a large shift. I mentioned that the world is standing at the precipice of change and, like it or not, history's next step will be taking us on a journey we may not be prepared for. My call to the youth and young-at-heart in that post was to stand ready and know that God is preparing you to lead us into the next generation.
It took yesterday's post to understand that we, as neighbors, will be each other's refuge in the storm that is to come along with that change. Today, as I reflect on Joshua 24:1-18 I am beginning to understand that maybe, just maybe, we better start picking sides. Before you think I'm going to say join God's army and defeat all those who don't believe - something I would never say - I want to explain what I mean by choosing sides.
In our passage, God, through the prophet Joshua, says to the gathered people that it was God who was with them from the very beginning. God reminds them in a brief summary that everything which has helped them prosper in good times and overcome difficult times beginning with Abraham, through Moses, and to Jericho has been because of God. In fact in verse 13 God actually reminds them that God gave them a land on which they had not labored and towns they had not built.
After the brief history lesson God then offers them a choice. God says to choose either the gods of a far away time and place, or to choose the God that has always been with them and stands with them now. The people don't even think twice as they choose to be with their Lord.
This brings me to my thought for today. In the millenniums that have passed since this story was first told Christians have made this passage, and others like it, to be a call for "soldiers" to rise and "make" everyone follow the "right" god. Nothing, to me, could be further from the truth. Passages like this remind me that there has been a God that has been with me throughout my entire life, through good and bad times.
It also reminds me that eventually I will need to make a choice - to keep traveling in the direction my life is going, or to change directions. I made that choice almost 20 years ago, and since then I have deepened my relationship with those around me, my self, and my God. I chose a life filled with unconditional love and acceptance. I walk along a path my God has put me on, and now I try my best, with the gifts God has given me, to help others understand that there is and always will be one that loves them for the person they are, regardless of who they are or what they've done.
So, the next time you find yourself at a crossroad in life, remember that there are people around you who love you unconditionally, and a God that asks only one thing from you - to try and remember that it is God who has always been there and to live a life that allows God to be a part of it.
Then, and only then, make your choice.
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