The Pulpit Commentary — Joshua — Section 412

to it, to-morrow will be always moving in e. different direction from to-rlay, will lose ~lrnt to-clay has ~on. An aim permits life to be cumulative, e.lways gathering richer force, fullor Joys-alwa;rs ~ompleting ancl rounding off its conquesfa. ,J oshuo. here asstrmes_tlint n pl~n of hfe 1s essential to the proper pursuit of it, anrl on this nssurnpL10n his nppeal ls bo.secl. Take note of this, for a planless is a powerless life. Observe- 11. HE CLAIMS THEIR LIFE FOR Gon. "Now, therefore, serve Him." He cloes not timorously present any alternative. There is no reasonable alternative to this. One plo.n, ancl only one, of life ehoulcl be entertained by a serious nature. The only wise ancl only rational plo.n of life is the service of God. A multitude of reas~ns concur to co=e~cl it. (1) Conscience requires it, as the only right course. Seryrng Goel, ev~ry law will b~ kept, every cluty done, every claim met, every wrong avoided. Conscience pomts hke a compass-neecll'e to the throne of Goel, and its every suggestion is in one form or _other a suggestion to do His bidding. It is a solemn fact that the holiest ancl the deepest instinct of our nature bicls us serve God. (2) Gratitude requi·res it. Goel had delivered them, Ieel them, helped them, enriched them; given them liberty, victory, home. In addition to these national blessings, He had to each individual given life, faculty, joys, home-loves, duties that clignilied, comforts that glo.cldenAcl life. The instinct of gratitude is to ask, What shall I r~nrler to the Lord for all His benefits? We have still larger benefits-a Saviour, a home above. Gratitude should constrain us to serve Goel. (3) Wisdom should constrain us to serve Him. Serve self-ancl server ancl served are both ruined. Serve God-and God is pleased, ancl we are safe. Service of God developes all our higher faculties ; is the only state in which we are safe ; is the course in which we are useful. Growth, safety, usefulness, what can compare with them? Pitiable is the state of -those who do not serve. They do not live in any proper sense of the worcl. Therefore Joshua urges on them to serve their redeeming God. And the grounds which suited them 4,000 years ago are all intensely valid to-day. Consider this claim, o.ncl if disposed to dispute it, consider next- 11. THE CHALLENGE BE GIVES TO THOSE UNWU.LING TO SERVE Gon. " If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose ye whom ye will serve ; the gods whom your fathers served, or the gocls of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell." Thus he presents them with the discredited deities around them, and bids them choose. Will they choose the gocls the.t Abraham forsook-foreook because power- less to help, degrading in their influence ? by forsaking whom he found all his grandeur, all his blessedness, all his reward ? or will they take the gocls of the Amorites whose powerlessness to protect their servants had been just witnessed, who betrayed those who trusted in them? With what force does the mere form in which he urges his challenge deter men from it I Would that all who reject the Saviour would realise what they are about I If it seems not good to you to serve Christ, whom will ye serve ? The gods your fathers left? The gods whose power- lessness to bless men is manifest around you? Such a goddess as Pleasure, which fools think the best to worship, which fritters away all strength of soul, de- stroys conscience, and heart, and intellect, and body alike-would you choose that ? or Money, coyost of all deities? whom he that seeketh rarely findeth, and he that fincleth never finds so rich as he had hoped? who seems to be a god that can give everything, but it is found to be unable to give any one of the things most desired by us? Or Power, the deity sought by the ambitious, who never permits any one to say, "He is mine" in anything like the degree he he.d h~ped, and even when possessed is found to be insipid as the insignificance fro_m winch men fled? Is it Indulgence l the deity that degre.des men? or Self-will, the cleity that destroys them? Choose which. There ought to be no trifling. We must _serve some God. Who is to be the source of all you hcpe for if you _put a.way the Saviour ?f Calvary ? To use the experience of otbcrs is the part of a wise man ; to buy expenence de~rly for yourself is the part 0!1 a, foolish man. There is none amongst all the deities that clamour for your E:,cvioe which the wise ancl the_goocl haYe not forsaken, or the foolish and the worldly he.ve not repented of oleavmg to. Betake not yourself to such, but serve the Lord.-G. 3<14 THE BOOR OF JOSIIUA. [en. xxrv. 1-2~.