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Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, October 18, 2026
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: When looking through a lens of a loving relationship, serving God ceases to be an obligation and becomes an act of love.
God’s people had become complacent on the stolen lands they inhabited. They had started to adopt the ways of the people that lived there before them and of the people nearby. Most troubling to God was their willingness to turn to the gods of other people. God drew a line in the sand. God started with a recounting of all the things God had done for them. Then God’s spokesperson, Joshua, told the people to choose: serve others or serve God.
It can be easy to view serving God as an obligation. Sometimes, even being asked to serve at church can feel more of a burden than a gift. Perhaps that’s why Joshua started his entire talk with a recounting of all that God had done for the people. Not in a “you owe me” sort of way, but with an “I love you this much” tone. Although we are indebted to God, God does not hold that over us like a Damocles sword. We are not God’s slaves. We are God’s beloved children. Anyone with children knows that the scales are weighed heavily in favor of the parents serving the children far more than the children serve the parents. That’s the nature of a parent/child relationship. The parents do for the kids until the kids learn how to do for themselves. They do not owe it back; if anything they owe it forward. Since we are God’s children, God will serve us far more than we will ever serve God. We do not owe it back; we owe it forward.
Looking through this lens, serving God both inside and out of the church ceases to be an obligation and becomes instead an act of love. When we are in a loving relationship, we act from a place of authenticity and desire, and so when Joshua stated, “choose… who you will serve,” it was not entirely an obligation to choose. Joshua was asking people to declare whom they love and commit to serving before the community. Remember that serving God is a loving response to being first loved by God.
