2026: Choose You This Day

“Choose this day whom you will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14–15)

Sometimes, life stops feeling like a conversation and becomes a crossroads.

Joshua stands up in front of a whole nation, and he doesn’t give them a cozy pep talk. He gives them a decision.

Notice what Joshua doesn’t do: he doesn’t host a committee meeting. He doesn’t ask for a six-month discernment process. He doesn’t invite everyone to keep their options open. He points to the gods they’ve kept in their back pocket, little spiritual insurance policies, habits they refuse to name, loyalties they refuse to release, and he says, in effect, Put them down. Decide.

That’s how surrender works. It isn’t primarily a matter of intellect. It isn’t a matter of argument. In the end, surrender is a matter of will. A holy, stubborn, beautiful decision: I am His.

Joshua’s words press the point: you can’t serve the Lord with one hand while you keep your idols in the other. You can’t walk forward if you keep dragging yesterday behind you. At some point, you must shut out the noise and decide.

·        Maybe it’s a relationship you keep excusing.

·        Maybe it’s a habit you keep feeding.

·        Maybe it’s an anger you keep rehearsing.

·        Maybe it’s a calling you keep delaying.

·        Maybe it’s a fear that keeps you from wholehearted obedience.

And here’s the hard mercy of God: when we ignore the gentle invitations, He sometimes allows a crisis to clarify what we’ve been avoiding. Not because He’s cruel, but because He loves us too much to let us live with divided loyalty. The fork in the road isn’t punishment; it’s rescue. God brings you to the place where you can’t keep pretending. Where you have to decide: Will I be entirely His, or will I keep hedging my bets?

Joshua draws a line in the sand. Not to shame you, but to save you from shame. Because the deepest shame isn’t failing, it’s refusing. It’s hearing God’s call and protecting your “yes” behind a thousand “maybes.”

So, choose. Not someday. Not when you feel brave. Not when it’s convenient. Choose today.

Have a great week!

-Pastor Corey