Joshua 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.”
Have you ever made a deal with God? Maybe one of those promises you make in a desperate situation. God if you get me out of this one, I’ll never miss church again. Or, I’ll give up drinking. Or, I’ll be a better person. Or maybe you’ve walked an aisle at church or thrown a stick in the fire at a summer camp or some other “revival” where you dedicated, or re-dedicated, or re-re-dedicated some part of your life to God.
But then what happened? If you’re like me that promise fizzled out pretty quickly. The re-dedication of your life to Christ eventually gave way to the same old sins.
The book of Joshua ends on a high note. The Israelites made it into the Promised Land. Joshua has led them to victory after victory. All is peaceful (for now). So Joshua gathers the people for a covenant renewal ceremony. A re-dedication if you will. God’s been good so let’s re-commit. Let’s walk the aisle and make some promises to God. Let’s clean out the spiritual closet. Here we go!
In Joshua 24 the dialogue goes like this:
Joshua: Choose this day whom you will serve.
The people: Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods.
Joshua: You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God.
The people: No, but we will serve the Lord.
Joshua: You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.
The people: We are witnesses.
Sound familiar? Have you ever had this kind of conversation with God? I have. Many times. But the big problem with this kind of negotiating with God is that it can only leave us in one position – as witnesses against ourselves.
Note the pessimism. Against. Not you will be witnesses FOR yourselves. Nope, it’s anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. One day soon the Israelites will break the law of God, and when they do, these words, we will serve the Lord, will be used against them.
The same is true for us. Every promise we’ve made, every re-dedication, every consecration, every prayer of contrition, every confession, every aisle walked, each is a witnesses against ourselves in God’s courtroom. Each testifies to another broken pledge and our inability to fix ourselves.
Christian, you don’t need to make more commitments to Christ. You need Christ! Jesus is the only one who ever said, I will serve the Lord, and did it. Therefore, you need to daily transfer your trust away from your own re-dedications and place it fully on Christ’s dedication. His finished work.
To live is Christ means trusting in Christ’s life alone as our witness, never our own commitment level or words of promise. These will always testify against us. Only Jesus and his righteousness will bear witness for us on the day of judgment. May he be the only witness we call to the stand.
You: What commitments have you made to God lately? Have you kept them?
You in Christ: How does knowing that Christ kept all his commitments free us up to serve God without witnessing against ourselves?
Christ in you: Will you serve today from Christ’s life, or your own commitment? What’s the difference?
To Live is Christ 