Finding God

Walking with God is a journey for all of us.  It's a process.  It's about taking steps on a path. We walk with God when we see God and join God.  That can be confusing, though, even when we want to walk with Him.

"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:14 NIV)

I'm not sure if you've ever thought about this before, but the Israelites whom the LORD (Yahweh) saved from slavery in Egypt didn't worship the LORD (Yahweh) - at least not exclusively.  Maybe I said that in an awkward way.  Let me try it again.  The Israelites in Egypt worshiped the gods of Egypt.  They also worshiped Yahweh.  

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 NIV)

Finding Yahweh, the one true God, in the midst of that had to be difficult.  That's why the creation story is so important for the Israelites when they left Egypt.  Go read the creation story in Genesis 1:1-2:3.  As you read it this time, keep in mind that the Egyptians had gods for the Sun, Moon, Stars, Sky, and more.  The story of creation keeps reminding the Israelites that those things aren't actually gods.  Only Yahweh is God.

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 NIV)

The Israelites were believing in and serving many gods when Yahweh (the LORD) broke them out of Egypt.  The Israelites were moving into a new territory that served other gods - all of which were false.  They had many options to believe and many "gods" to follow.  They also knew about Yahweh.  The question, then, was whom they would choose to believe, follow, and serve.

All of us are given different competing pictures about the universe, the world, and God.  Some of those pictures do not include God at all.  Some of them include God as one of the many possibilities.  The Biblical picture points us to only one true God.  The question for us, then, is simple, too.  Have you found God?  Who will you believe, follow, and serve?  Choose today whom you will serve.  As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.