Kids Can Vote!
Joshua 24
· 14 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.
· 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.
· 16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;
I. The Opportunity
This week, we had Election Day.
Millions of Americans voted in this election.
We voted for local judges, Representatives, Senators, Governors and even the President.
But in America, you have to be 18 years old to vote.
You were able to pray on Tuesday morning for the election, but you didn’t get to actually vote.
Everyone looks forward to turning 18 so they can get to vote.
Our church has business meetings from time to time.
We will have one in February where we will vote on a church Treasurer and a Church Secretary.
Our By-laws and Constitution clearly states that you have to be 18 to vote in our church business meetings.
The reason for these age limits is because the average child doesn’t have the wisdom to make these kinds of decisions.
Imagine if kids could hold an election in the church!
Some of you would vote to have recess in the middle of the preacher’s message!
Or you’d vote that everyone that brought their Bible gets a candy bar.
ILLUSTRATION: We were in a church one time where the Pastor gave everybody a candy bar that read their Bible that week. If they read it every day, they got a HUGE candy bar. If they only read it a few times, they got a small candy bar.
Then he passed them out to the entire church, and they sat there during the service eating their candy bar!
I’m thinking that they must have had a business meeting in Junior Church and come up with that policy!
Though you cannot vote in the American elections, and you cannot vote in the church matters, guess what?
You get to vote when it comes to a matter that is FAR more important.
You get to make a choice when it comes to your relationship with God.
As soon as you are old enough to realize that there is a choice, you get to vote!
As soon as you are old enough to realize that God loves you and wants to be your Lord and Savior, you get to vote!
II. The Obligation
The truth of the matter is, it’s not just an opportunity to make this decision; it is an obligation.
You don’t have a choice about whether or not you make the choice.
You HAVE to vote.
You get to decide WHO you vote for, but you don’t get to decide if you vote or not.
Everyone will make this choice.
Even on days when you don’t think you made a choice, you did.
Even if you don’t want to make a choice, you do.
The Bible didn’t say “choose you this day IF you will serve…”
The Bible didn’t say “choose you this day if you FEEL like serving…”
Joshua looked at the people and said, “…choose you this day WHOM ye will serve…”
III. The Options
· 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.
There are two options on the ballot.
False gods, and the One True God.
There are gods with a small “g”, and there is the one and only LORD with all capital letters.
Joshua gave the people the opportunity to vote, and he clearly explained who was on the ballot.
He even went so far as to share with the people the endorsements of these small “g” gods.
He explained that their ancestors before the flood had voted for these gods.
Of course, God was so displeased with their choice that He flooded the entire world with water and destroyed them.
Then, you have the gods of the Amorites.
The Amorites were big supporters of these small “g” gods.
The Amorites were very wicked people that lived during the times of the people of Israel.
They were always fighting against them and against God.
They were so wicked that in Joshua 10:11, while the Israelites were fighting the Amorites, God cast down great stones from heaven upon them, and they died.
So Joshua is giving the children of Israel the names on the ballots, and the gods of the Amorites were on there.
But then Joshua gave them the name on the ballot that HE was endorsing, along with his family.
That was the LORD.
Those names are still on the ballot today!
You can vote for the small “g” gods that the world around you is serving, or you can choose the LORD!
IV. The Outrage
16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;
17 For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:
18 And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.
The people of Israel were so adamant about this election.
They got fired up! GOD FORBID we even consider these other gods!!
In verse 16, they were very bold in their endorsements.
· 16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;
And then they gave the reason why.
It was the LORD that had saved them and brought them out of Egypt.
It was the LORD that had delivered them from bondage.
It was the LORD that had done great signs in our sight. (name some of them)
It was the LORD that had preserved them in all the way wherein they went. (water, manna, quail, clothing)
It was the LORD that had preserved them among all the people through whom they had passed.
It was the LORD that had driven out the inhabitants of the land, even the Amorites.
They boldly declared that it made no sense to serve the gods of a group of defeated people!
They voted to serve the God that had delivered them, saved them, provided for them and preserved them.
Conclusion: Kids can vote. Who do you vote to serve?
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