This week we are looking at Joshua 24: 1-3, 14-25.  Today, I want to talk about what happens next.  The people said we’re going to serve God. And Joshua said You can’t.  The people responded, Yes, we will serve the Lord.  And everybody lived happily ever after. And there was no more departure from God throughout the rest of Scripture, right. That’s what we see moving forward, right?

Well, not exactly.  Joshua ends with this pivotal moment, when people reaffirm their covenant, they reaffirm their vows, they’re going to follow God, they’re going to be obedient to God, they’re going to live in God’s purpose and in God’s plan.

And it looks wonderful.

And then the next book in the Bibles, Judges is a continual example of the people being free, falling into sin, falling into slavery, crying out for help, God freeing them, freedom, sinning, slavery, over and over, and over and over again. Eventually, David is raised up, and he leads the people to glorious heights. He’s followed by Solomon, who loses way towards the end of his life, then the division in the kingdom, the northern and southern kingdom, both of whom turn away from God, leading to the Babylonian captivity, leading to the return, leading to a falling away again, leading to Jesus leaving to the church to salvation, leading to me and you. And we’re very much like Israel. We have moments in our life when we vow to follow God and then we fall away. We have moments like our conversion, we give our lives completely to Jesus. What happens.  But we still are human? We’re going to fall away at times. We’re going to make mistakes. We’re going to fall every one of us.  his Is Our Story. The people had this moment where they renewed their vow to faithfully follow God. Yet they still messed up, and they still fell into sin.

God never gave up on them.

The same is true for me and you as well. We’re gonna mess up y’all. We may feel, right now, as far away from God you’ve ever felt in our life. We may think we’ve fallen too far, that we’ve done too much, and that God can’t possibly redeem us, or God can’t possibly love us. But let me tell you a friend. God loves you more than you can imagine.

If you have fallen,  if you made that mistake if you feel unworthy, or unloved, and unlovable. Today is the day to have your own personal Shechem. To renew the vow, you made it your salvation, to renew the value made when you have fallen before you fail. Today, today’s the day to day that y’all you have not out sinned, the grace of God.

And God today calls you back to himself.

God’s not given up on you.  

Don’t give up on yourself.

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