"Choose you this day whom ye will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" (Joshua 24:15).
Thirty-two years ago today Brooksyne and I stood before the altar in a little church in the Indian town of Sapulpa Oklahoma and pledged our love to each other in holy marriage. It's worked out very well and for that we are most grateful. Also on this date 29 years ago I was ordained to gospel ministry in York, PA.
Thank God by His grace I have stayed faithful to my wife and she to me and both of us in our call to serve Jesus Christ. We've had our disappointments, tears and sorrows. Like anyone running the spiritual race we've had trials (see news flash below for an update). In our 25 years of pastoral ministry we've been bitten a few times by the sheep. But we've also met lots and lots of people along the way who have blessed us greatly, including quite a few who are on this "Daily Encouragement" list.
When our family prays together we often conclude by reciting the daily verse. Joshua first uttered these words some 3,300 years ago after leading God's people into the Promised Land. His final sermon was a challenge to faithfulness and included this solemn affirmation of his own faith. "Choose you this day whom ye will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
I am struck by the significance of the words "this day" in the text. Certainly on the one hand it conveys a momentous decision to serve the Lord such as that decision made the day we were born again.
However in another sense it's an ongoing, regular, habitual choice to "this day" serve the Lord. After all, Joshua had chosen to follow the Lord many years before he made this call to the people. He surely wasn't making the choice for the first time!
I believe it's that way in our walk with the Lord and our walk with our spouse. Thirty-two years ago I made a public declaration of my love and commitment to Brooksyne as my "lawfully wedded wife". That was a big day for me. But daily since then (all 11,689 days) we have committed our love to one another and to the Lord. And by God's grace we will continue to do so until He calls us home. We welcome you all to join us this day.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily prayer: This is our prayer today and I encourage you to make it yours as well!
Come and fill our home with Your presence,
You alone are worthy of our rev'rence.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
We will serve the Lord.
Lord we vow to live holy, bowing our knees to You only.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,
We will serve the Lord.
Staying together, praying together,
Any storm we can weather trusting in God's Word.
We need each other, fathers and mothers,
Sisters and brothers in harmony and love. *
* "The Family Prayer Song" by Morris Chapman
