Josh. 24:15 ". . . choose you this day whom ye will serve . . . but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah."
We usually see this verse as a great statement of faith and devotion by Joshua, which it is, but I wonder if we miss the full implications of his statement. Joshua doesn't say, "I will follow Jehovah," he says, "me and my house". This declaration isn't just a wonder of personal faith, it is an example of family leadership.
Guys, we need to step up as husbands and fathers (writes the single, childless man). Clearly, God has given us leadership in the family (Eph. 5:23
"For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church" and 6:4 "And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord") and if Joshua's example is an approved one, then the responsibility is ours to ensure that not only we, but our families are serving the Lord.
This demands thought and purposeful action in every aspect of our family lives. From carefully choosing our spouse for her spiritual beauty more than her physical looks, to being the spiritual leader she needs. Eve was created to help Adam, which necessarily implies that Adam was the prime mover. Our role is leadership, most importantly in things spiritual. Surely part of nourishing and cherishing her (Eph. 5:29) is leading her toward heaven. And so husbands and wives ought to be praying together, reading and discussing scripture together and deciding together how best to serve the Lord with their resources in their daily lives, with the husband being the initiator and driving force.
It is also the fathers' job to nurture the children in the "chastening and admonition of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4). While the wives are to run the household (1 Tim. 5:14), ultimate responsibility falls on the father. This takes thoughtful, planned action, as well as relentless repetition. Deut. 11:18-21 “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth."
Moses tells fathers that raising children in the Lord is an all day, every day task. They were to inculcate their kids with God's Word while accomplishing all the tasks of the day. Moses' statement shines light on Solomon's proverb: "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." (Prov. 22:6). That training is more than just making sure they attend Sunday School.
Joshua's statement also implies some tough love. "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" but what if, despite the best training or because of failures long since repented of, a family member decides not to serve the Lord? Joshua said his house would serve. If one didn't, I am under the strong impression that they would no longer be in Joshua's house. While we need to approach such situations with love and compassion, there comes a time to "deliver [them] to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that [their] spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord." (1 Cor. 5:5). 'My house, God's rules' should be the mantra of every Christian father in the unfortunate event of such a challenge.
Men, God gave us a big job to do, which is why He created such wonderful ladies to help us complete it.
Lucas Ward