Joshua 24:23 “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
Do you detect any Trojan Horses in your life? They are subtle, sneaky and sly.
I’ll never forget the graduate Psychology course I took years ago at a local university. When I shared about my journey in life, the professor could not understand why I credited God with bringing me through the challenges I’d faced. The idea of not attributing my accomplishments (victories) to myself was to him a foreign concept. His worldview left no room for dependence on a deity.
Sometimes I forget how differently Christians think from the rest of the world. And because of this, we let down our guard on how much we allow the world to influence us. The world, including my professor, says it’s good to boast in our accomplishments. But boasting in ourselves negates the Scripture which admonishes our “boast should be in the Lord” (2 (Corinthians 10:17).
Joshua knew the lure of compromise would be an ongoing threat to Israel. Before his death, he warned the fledgling nation to remember the Lord as the source of their many victories. Not him. Not their own strategy (Joshua 23-24). In fact, he built no less than seven memorials to remind future generations of God’s power and love for his people. Joshua cautioned them about the choice looming ahead of them. They could shift their allegiance to the gods of the nations they were demolishing. Or they could remain faithful to the God who called them. You would think the choice was a no-brainer. But history reveals they fell again and again to the stealth influence of their surroundings.
Let’s be on guard. The voices from an unbelieving world will try to lure us into compromise. Be like us! Fit in! Worship our gods! Let’s not listen to them. Let’s not allow the influence of the world to invade our souls like a Trojan horse. Let’s fight the temptation by intentionally remembering the Lord’s love and faithfulness to us and never stop giving him the glory! He’s the only One who deserves it.