Jos 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

The most famous last words ever uttered by a New Testament character are that from the apostle Paul: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). The most famous last words uttered by an Old Testament character were from Joshua: “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.... but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (v.15). Joshua was God’s faithful servant. He was faithful from young to old age. He was faithful to the charge that was entrusted to him. He was faithful in bringing his family to God: “…but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” In his lifetime, Joshua had witnessed how God had delivered Israel out of Egypt. He witnessed the plagues in Egypt and the opening of the Red Sea. They reinforced his faith in God. He witnessed how Israel had so fast lost faith in God when they saw the giants in Canaan (Numbers 13:33). He witnessed how Israel had committed idolatry by worshipping the golden calf, and how debased the people became then (Exodus 32:6). He had also seen how God's wrath burned so intensely against the Israelites at Shittim, when they were seduced by Midianite women to commit fornication and to worship an idol called Baalpeor. Twenty-four thousand Israelites were struck dead in a plague because of it! (Numbers 25:1-9). Joshua would not want history to repeat itself to Israel again. So, he caused them to remembrance those things that God had done for them in the past (v.1-13). He called on them to make a choice: “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” He wanted them to maintain loyalty to God. What was the people’s answer to Joshua? They said: “We will serve the LORD” (v.21). But, did they keep their words? “And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10). Sad, isn’t it? A whole generation that did not know God! Certainly, they had heard about the great works of God. But, those things did not make an imprint in their hearts. The new generation had no personal relationship with God. They did not have the same affection for God as their fathers. As a result, the new generation was too readily yielded to the corrupting influences of the idolatry that surrounded them (Judges 2:11-13). Joshua's last words to Israel are applicable to us. Dearly beloved, we are facing the same issues today; we are losing a new generation. We have a new generation of Christians that do not share the same earnest affection for God as their parents’ generation. One writer wrote: “True Christianity is not biologically transmitted; it must be caught by each new generation, by the new generation having their own personal relationship with God and seeing His works on their behalf.” (David Guzik, e-sword). Young men and women, do you have a personal relationship with God? When you were young, you might be pigging on your parents’ back. Now that you have come down from their backs, do you have a faith that is your own? Is God real to you? God wants you to be steadfast and unmovable (1 Corinthians 15:58). He wants you to have a personal relationship with Him (James 4:8). Can you say you have it?