It Ain’t Talent It’s Choices: Joshua 24

“‘If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD’” (Joshua 24:15, NASB).

The inscription on his Tee shirt read, “It’s Ain’t Talent It’s Choices.” Immediately, I was reminded of an incident that I had been in two weeks before. While standing in a line to pay a bill one gentleman said to me, “You used to play linebacker?” “Yes,” I responded, it was about fifty years ago.” The man remarked, “You can tell it by the way that you’re built up.” I responded, “Well, I’m seventy-three now and I was in high school then. What you see now comes from my working out in the gym lifting weights.” The man responded, “But, it’s in your genetics.”

I asked the young man with the Tee shirt on to tell in two sentences what the inscription meant to him. I did not want to interrupt his work out. He said, “Well, some people say that it’s in your genes, your background, etc. They do not think about eating right, exercising and all the things that you have to do to get what you want. I thanked him and we continued our work outs. I knew that I wanted to write about making good choices. When I looked the word up in my bible dictionary, I discovered that there are nine Greek words that translate to the English word choice in the New Testament. So, this is the sense in which I will use the word for this article. The word “choice’ means that there are at least two options that I must choose from. When I choose to do something, I automatically choose not to do something. When I choose to do something, I do so because of my own knowledge and desires.

Joshua 24 was chosen as a scripture reference because it records Joshua’s challenge to the children of Israel as they are settling down to live in the Promised Land that the Lord had given them. This chapter allows us to see that our choice to serve the Lord is based on what we know our choices are. In this case, the question was, which gods will you serve, or will you serve the Lord? So that the people could make an informed choice, Joshua recounted the history of the people’s ancestors and the gods that they worshiped. In telling the history Joshua emphasized all that the Lord had done to bring them to this place that they now live.

First God made a choice when God chose Abraham from among his people. In Genesis 11 we learn that Abram (Abraham) was living with his father and his father’s family when the Lord called him. Was there something special or unique about Abram that God chose him? Not from a human frame of reference, but according to God’s desire and His divine knowledge the choice of Abram was necessary. It was necessary because it was God’s desire to choose one man to be separated from all other men so that God could begin the process of forming a nation that would be holy unto God (See Deuteronomy 4:37; 7:6-8). It was through the nation of Israel that the Messiah would come. As we can see throughout all the scriptures, God has separated the good from the bad; the righteous from the wicked.

The inscription on the Tee shirt means that things don’t happen automatically simply because of some inherited traits and abilities. Instead, we must make choices about how we will use what we have been given in order to get the desired results. Basketball player Lebron James was born with the genetics to grow to be 6”8” tall. Although he would grow to be tall enough to play basketball at the professional level, he had to work hard to develop his skills. It is said that James spends over one million dollars per year to keep his body strong and in top condition; something that enables him to be the physical force that he is on the basketball court. James was born with talent, but it was his choices that made him to be one of the greatest players in the history of basketball.

When Joshua told the people to choose between the gods and God, He was saying: I have given you the knowledge and now you must be honest with yourselves about what you desire to do. Do you desire to serve the Lord? Do you want to live separately from the people in the land? Do you want to live by God’s laws; His commandments? What do you want to do? Do what is in your heart to do. Don’t make excuses. Don’t blame others. You must make a choice about how you will live.

So, let us get down to some practical issues as it relates to the people of God as they live in the world today. My mamma used to say, “People don’t do any better because they don’t know any better.” My mom would tell her children that they were given knowledge that many of their peers had not been given. Why? One reason was that the children’s parents did not know any better. Mom’s children knew better because both their mother and their father knew better and imparted knowledge to them. My teachers in school knew that I knew better. If I got out of order they would not hesitate to remind me of whose child I was. I was expected to know better and do better because I had been given the knowledge. Knowledge was not the reason for my doing wrong. What was the reason?

It was my desires. I had friends and classmates. I wanted to be like them and in the moment, I probably did not think much about my knowledge. Even if I did think about my home training, my choice was made because my desires were more important to me than my knowledge. Having friends and being accepted by others was more important than being right. However, my parents and teachers believed that I was required to do better. “But the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of flogging will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more” (Luke 12:48, NASB). There was one last thing that Joshua told the people that they should consider in making their choice. There would be consequences.

First, they needed to be reminded of who God is. What is God like? What will God accept and what will God reject. You see, God is not a “maybe” God. God never says, “Maybe I’ll do this” or “maybe I’ll do that.” No. God speaks. He sends forth His word and His word always accomplishes what God sent His word to do. “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11, NASB). Joshua reminded the people that the Lord is a jealous God that will not forgive their transgressions of serving other gods (See v. 19). “If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you” (24:20, NASB).

Finally, there are two things that the Christian church must think about and take into consideration. What knowledge is being imparted to the members? Do we emphasize social aspects found in the bible; especially to the large exclusion of who God is and what God requires of His people? Does the church prioritize one’s relationship to God over what God can do for them? Are our members aware that the promises of God found in the bible are promises made to God’s people that walk with him and serve Him by obeying His commandments? Second, we must develop in the members a desire to serve God. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6, NASB). How can one hunger and thirst for righteousness if they do not know what it mean to be righteous? We cannot hunger and thirst for righteousness if we do not hunger and thirst for God. We are talking about the God that God is; not the God of our imaginations. Nothing just happens; rather consequences are a matter of the choices that we make.