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"But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." ~ Joshua 24:15
During a time when the Children of Israel could have fractured and their society, culture and way of life disintegrated, one man stood before them with his family and made the very bold statement above. And in making this stand, Joshua forged a path as one of the greatest Jewish leaders of the ancient world. Pretty cool...
Had he lived during my growing up years and in my hometown, the Bronx, his statement may have sounded something like:
The verse from Joshua that I quoted above was revealed to me during the earliest days of my relationship with my wife. I credit her with pointing me to the Path which led to my salvation, a road which brought me to a deeper understanding of God's Grace and Providence. (Thanks, Sweetie...you are reading this, right?)
This pronouncement of faith by Joshua before the whole body of Israel became so important to me that it is a permanent part of the signature line in my personal e-mail account. (I also had it tattooed on my right arm for my 51st birthday, much to my wife's consternation.) It has caused me a few major headaches from time to time.
For instance, it put the kibosh on a terrific job opportunity. After a great interview, I sent a thank-you message from my personal e-mail account. The HR director read my signature line and decided that I no longer was the ideal candidate for her organization that she professed me to be. Instead of discussing salary and a hire date, I received a very curt rejection e-mail.
Disappointing and frustrating, but I would rather deal with headaches such as this than cave into the demands and pressures of this world.
I pray that I will always have to strength to stand strong in the face of this pressure, which comes from "The Adversary". More on him at a future date...
Had he lived during my growing up years and in my hometown, the Bronx, his statement may have sounded something like:
"If you want the easy way, fine. You wanna wuss out and follow everyone else? Knock yourselves out. My family and I will do the right thing and you're either on board or you're gonna get out of the way. Good luck."Trust me, it took quite an effort to clean this up for universal consumption. Feel free to contact me directly for the uncensored, Bronx version.
The verse from Joshua that I quoted above was revealed to me during the earliest days of my relationship with my wife. I credit her with pointing me to the Path which led to my salvation, a road which brought me to a deeper understanding of God's Grace and Providence. (Thanks, Sweetie...you are reading this, right?)This pronouncement of faith by Joshua before the whole body of Israel became so important to me that it is a permanent part of the signature line in my personal e-mail account. (I also had it tattooed on my right arm for my 51st birthday, much to my wife's consternation.) It has caused me a few major headaches from time to time.
For instance, it put the kibosh on a terrific job opportunity. After a great interview, I sent a thank-you message from my personal e-mail account. The HR director read my signature line and decided that I no longer was the ideal candidate for her organization that she professed me to be. Instead of discussing salary and a hire date, I received a very curt rejection e-mail.
Disappointing and frustrating, but I would rather deal with headaches such as this than cave into the demands and pressures of this world.
I pray that I will always have to strength to stand strong in the face of this pressure, which comes from "The Adversary". More on him at a future date...
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