Daily Devotions
As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD. Joshua 24:15
In Washington Crossing State Park, located in Buck County, Pennsylvania, stands a structure called “House of Decision.” It got this name because in it George Washington and his staff decided to cross the Delaware River to attack the opposing forces at Trenton, New Jersey. They did so on Christmas night, 1776, and were successful.
Every home is in a sense a “house of decision.” Important things have to be decided in the family circle about the daily work routines, about recreation, what to read, what to watch on TV, where the older children will go to college, and how to pay for it.
One matter exceeds all the family issues, namely, what is the family’s relation to Jesus Christ? Joshua, the leader of the Israelites settled in the Promised Land, made a deep impression on the people when he announced at a mass meeting in Schechem: “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15). In this house a right decision had been made.
In the New Testament we find many references to households where, through the Gospel, the Holy Spirit had led family members to declare Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Saint Peter preached in the house of the centurion Cornelius. The Holy Spirit activated faith in those present and the whole household was baptized. The same events took place in the home of Lydia in Philippi and in that of the jailor in the same city. Another “house of decision” where the Holy Spirit probably did His work was the home of Philemon, to whom Saint Paul wrote a letter.
If yours is a house where decisions comparable to crossing the Delaware have to be made, by all means make them. Say with Joshua that you and your house will serve the Lord Jesus. Trusting in the merit of Jesus Christ, you and your family will have peace with God and peace in the home.
PRAYER: O Holy Spirit, guide me when important decisions have to be made in my house. Amen.
(Devotions from “With Jesus Every Day” copyright 1997, CPH. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. Permission is granted for one-time emailing of this link to a friend. For information on other devotional material, please contact CPH at 800-325-3040 or visit CPH at www.cph.org.)