Corona Devo 1576

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

~~~ 

What might serving the Lord look like for us today?

We had supper the other night with friends who began a ministry over twenty years ago, in which they prevent children from entering the s-x trade.  

After hearing about a twelve-year-old orphan named Nhu in Cambodia, who was sold into slavery (partially because of her decision to become a Christian), Carl and Laurie felt a compulsion from the Lord to remember her, and to find her.  

After six trips to Cambodia to search for her, they did find her (and rescue and adopt her), and today "Remember Nhu" 'currently has 120 homes for children in 19 countries, which protect over 1,500 children from the sex trade through full-time care in children’s homes, foster families, and family restoration programs. To date, and including past program graduates, they have prevented over 15,000 children from sex trafficking' ( https://remembernhu.org/global-impact/ ). 

Carl and Laurie chose for themselves whom they would serve, and their life decisions depicted that "as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15), and that commitment of his heart and family has touched over 15,000 others. 

What might serving the Lord look like for us today, and how can we start?  

~~~

What might serving the Lord cost us today?

After an out-of-town Sunday soccer game, our daughter's soccer team protocol was to return to the hotel to stretch and rest, but our daughter asked the coach if she could go to church with her family first instead.  The coach repeated the required cool-down agenda and added that afterwards, she could figure the rest of her day out.  

When she told us that she wanted to go to church anyway, I was both surprised and proud.  She (and we) knew that choice would cost her a starting position in the next game, but she chose church anyway.  

  • But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...  But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.  ~Joshua 24:15
  • What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? (27) For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.  ~Matthew 16:25-27
Most of our "rewards" in following-after Christ will be delayed.  Here on earth, in this broken and sinful world, there will be few rewards for serving the Lord.  

But...serve Him anyway.  

~~~

What might serving the Lord require from us today?

Elisabeth Elliot was the wife of Jim Elliot, a missionary to an indigenous tribe in the Amazonian jungle of Ecuador.  Jim was committed to sharing the Good News of Christ with a people who had never heard of God before, and Elisabeth was too.  

The tribe speared Jim and five other missionaries to death in 1956.  

Elisabeth and their young daughter later went back to the same tribe in Ecuador to share the hope of Jesus, and many of them came to believe in Jesus Christ as a result of Elisabeth's forgiveness and love.  

That is one woman's story. 

What's ours?

What might serving the Lord require from us today?

But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...  But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.  ~Joshua 24:15

~~~

For us today, for Elisabeth Elliot sixty-five years ago, and for followers-of-God since He created the world: there is a cost.  There is a consequence.  There is resistance to the Light and Truth of God... but whom will we serve?  

Where will our allegiance lie?

Where will our Eternity be spent as a result of our choices today?  

For you and your household...
For me and mine...

...we will serve the Lord.  ~Joshua 24:15

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com

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