“Make Good Choices Today”
“Make Good Choices Today” (Joshua 24:14-24)
Series: “A Time for Everything”
Pastor Nate Walther
17th Sunday of Pentecost (9/20/2026)
“Make Good Choices.” Maybe you’ve said those words before to your kids or to a friend. Maybe you’ve heard those words before from a parent or a teacher. Sadly, they are words that need to be said. As obvious as it may seem to say, “make good choices,” we still often choose to do what’s wrong and what will only hurt us (or others) the end.
Indeed, if you’re a biblically-minded individual—or, if you’re just burned out on life and you’ve moved past those idealistically youthful days!—choice itself may seem like an illusion. For example, the biggest choice you could ever make, faith in Christ yielding eternity in heaven? A lot of people think of that as a choice they must make. But do you realize the Bible never speaks that way? Whenever the Bible speaks about coming to faith, God is always the one who chooses that for us. But here’s the misnomer: it’s not that God hasn’t given us freedom of choice. (He has!) The problem is what we end up choosing when left to our own devices.
That’s what God’s people needed to hear in our sermon text from the Book of Joshua. It was a new day. After wandering in the desert for 40 years because of the sinful choices of a previous generation, God has given this next generation of Israelites a fresh start in a land of their own. And that left them with their own choice. They could rid themselves of bad influences—such as the gods their forefathers had picked up in Egypt, or the new gods which they might encounter in this new land—or they could rid themselves of the true God and what he wanted. On paper, the decision seems obvious. They should choose the LORD as God! But their leader Joshua explains, it wouldn’t be so easy.
In our sermon text, Joshua reminds them that their ancestors once faced the same “easy choice”. But they messed it up. Abraham’s forefathers chose idols beyond the River in Mesopotamia, and likewise his descendants chose false gods in Egypt. So Joshua calls on this new generation to make good choices… but notice where the focus is. They didn’t need to worry about the past. They realized God had still been good to them, he had forgiven Israel’s sin, he had gotten them to this point. But the present still mattered. So, Joshua encourages them, “Choose for yourselves today whomever you will serve.” Then, as a good leader, Joshua models the correct answer, “As for me and my household—we will serve the Lord.” And the people are quick to agree. Of course they are! It was obviously a good choice when they saw all that God has done for their nation in delivering them from Egypt.
So are you surprised by Joshua’s response? “You are not able to serve the Lord, because he is a holy God.” Joshua has a point. If God truly is holy, that means he cannot tolerate sin. And there’s the issue. Conviction and choice won’t cut it. As Joshua reminds them, sin and rebellion will still elicit God’s jealousy (he wants our allegiance!), and it will still lead to disaster. i.e. Joshua is really trying to get his people to think about what they are saying! And give them credit, after wrestling with his words and thinking about how much conviction they really had, they still chose right on that day: “No! We will most certainly serve the Lord!” Finally, Joshua encourages them to then act according to that choice.
There’s a lesson in there for us. Some choices we don’t have to worry about. For example, you don’t have to worry about mistakes that were made in the past. (They’re forgiven, and God’s grace has carried you to a new day!) And you don’t have to worry about hard choices you’ll have to make tomorrow. (God’s already there, there’s nothing you can do about it right now.) But MAKE GOOD CHOICES TODAY. And if they really are good choices—godly choices—realize that it will be hard. It’s usually much easier to do what’s wrong! But, still, choose to do what’s right.
For the Israelites, those difficult choices revolved around idolatry. (We can hardly imagine it, but they lived at a time when each nation had their own gods, and the moment things went south it was tempting to see if another god could do better for them.) As for us, what choice do we struggle with? What’s our version of idolatry?… May I submit to you: it’s just as much idolatry! What things do we place before the Lord in our hearts, and we trust them to give us better outcomes than he does? I’m sure we could illustrate this in any number of ways, but as we focus on the stewardship of our God-given time, talents, and treasures with our new worship series, don’t we see it there especially? Do some of us need to part with some precious time that we idolize, as we always tend to put ourselves and what we want in front of others and what they need? In close connection to that, do some of us need to part with some precious talents that we horde for ourselves, rather than using them for others who haven’t been blessed with such ability? Or, do some of us need to sacrifice precious treasure that we place before God, as (this is just one of many examples we could imagine on this topic) we tend to look to money to get us through life’s troubles more than we actually look to God to help? And that’s just in the area of stewardship. It’s to say nothing of other idols.
It’s no wonder we don’t ultimately choose salvation! So quickly we just gravitate to sinful vices! And the ultimate vice? Just like you can wave a $100 bill over a dead body all you want—it won’t reach up and grab it—the Bible says in no uncertain terms that we are born dead in sin—we can’t reach up and grab God’s free gift of salvation on our own. In spiritual deadness, sin is all we know how to choose. No matter how good our choices seem to be, we always gravitate to things that will simply not last in the end! The only solution is that God would pity us, resuscitate us, and give us life.
Do you realize, that’s exactly what God chose? Take our sermon text: God wasn’t fooled by any of this. He knew the Israelites would rebel against him just like their forefathers, and that they would choose other gods in the future. He knew they were lying to themselves even when they didn’t know it yet, and it would break his heart. But still, on that day, he chose them… It’s a picture of a greater story to which this and all other accounts in Scripture ultimately point. That’s also where we come in. Just like our sinful forefathers, God knew we would rebel against him and choose other gods instead of him. Still, what did he choose for us? Hell, except for his own son instead. God consciously thought about it—he had all eternity to go back on this decision!— and still he chose to destroy Jesus on the cross, so that with him our sin would be destroyed as well. In this way, God chose us to be saved. Then, since we would never reach out and grab it on our own, God additionally chose to place this in our hearts through his Spirit. The Holy Spirit used water and the Word to connect us to everything that Jesus earned for us, and he worked through others who brought these means of grace into our lives—giving up their own time, talents, and treasures to make it happen!
It’s what sets God apart from any other idol. Every other god in your life offers instant gratification, but fails to deliver in the end. Seriously, name one that has! Even our excess time, talents, or treasures: whenever we hang onto these things for ourselves, it may give us something good in the moment, but what does it really offer that will last? On the other hand, think of what God offers. It took God over 400 years to return Israel to the Promised Land under Joshua, and thousands of years to keep his Promise to send a Savior, but he still kept those promises. So also, serving the same God of the Bible and doing what he says will yield good things for us in the end, even if we must sacrifice some time, talents, or treasures (or any other idol) in the present.
Dear friends in Christ, this is why there’s so much we don’t have to worry about. You don’t have to live under the shadow of past choices and past mistakes. Nor do you have to worry about tomorrow or even eternity itself. Not when God is happy with us right now. Not when God has forgotten our past sins right now because of Jesus. Not when God is preparing a future for us in heaven right now in his Son Jesus… So MAKE GOOD CHOICES TODAY as those for whom God has already made the best choices. That means making good choices with your time & talents. Do the things God says he wants you to do. You know what that means. Work hard in whatever God has called you to do. Help others who don’t have the time or ability. Pray for others when you have time to do so and they’re busy trying to handle what God has given to them. In all of this, take some time for yourself, because you need that also. And spend some time volunteering for good causes in the community, sure! But also, make sure you donate no small time to your church, because the work we do here with the message of Jesus is invaluable. Likewise, make good choices with your God-given treasure. Do the things God says he wants you to do with it. You know what that means. Provide for your family. Save for the future. Be faithful with your taxes. In all of this, use some money on yourself because you need that also. And spend some of it on others to show them your love, of course! But also, make sure donate no small amount to your church, because, again, the work we do here with the message of Jesus is invaluable.
All these things matter! The Bible encourages us to do them all! So make these good choices because you love the choices God has made for you, and you know he’ll deliver for you in the end. And let’s be clear—just like Joshua told the Israelites—it’s going to be hard to give up time you could be using for something else or money you’d prefer to spend on yourself. But you have a God more worthy of your heart than these gods. Because of him, we don’t have to worry about sins in our past, nor do we have to worry about where you’re going in the future. Just worry about today and choose whom you will serve. That’s where we can say along with Joshua, “As for me and my house? We will serve the Lord!” Amen.
