As for Me and My House, We Will Serve the Lord
"But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." — Joshua 24:15
Icebreaker
Ask the group: "If someone observed your home for a week — without ever hearing you talk about faith — what would they conclude about what your family actually serves?" Allow space for honest answers. This question tends to silence the room for a few seconds, and that's a good thing.
Teaching
This is the final chapter of Joshua's life. The land has been conquered, the tribes have settled in, the wars are over. From a human standpoint, the mission is complete. And it's right here that Joshua does something that surprises us most: instead of celebrating the victory, he calls the people to make a decision.
1. Conquest did not guarantee faithfulness
Joshua understood something that many victors never grasp: winning territory is not the same as remaining faithful. Israel had the land — but possessing the land and serving the Lord were two different things, and the second did not come automatically with the first.
Apply this to your own life: it's possible to obtain the job, the house, the ministry, the marriage you prayed for — and at the same time be drifting away from God. A victory that has been won is never, by itself, proof of faithfulness being maintained.
2. "Put away the foreign gods" — there were idols in the midst of the victory
Joshua says: "put away the gods that your fathers served… and serve the Lord" (v. 14). Wait — after all those victories, were there still idols among them? Yes. Kept quiet, tucked away, tolerated.
Idolatry rarely shows up as open rebellion. It shows up as something kept around "just in case," sitting alongside faith, not bothering anyone. Joshua demands an exclusive choice.
3. The decision is personal before it is collective
Notice the structure of that famous declaration: "choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." Joshua doesn't impose the decision on the people. He gives them genuine freedom to choose — and then declares his own position, regardless of what anyone else decides.
This is the courage of a mature leader: he doesn't coerce anyone, but he also doesn't wait for consensus before taking a stand.
4. "Me and my house" — faith has an address
Joshua doesn't simply say "I will serve the Lord." He includes his household. Biblical faith is not a purely private matter; it has real implications for the home — in daily routines, in how children are raised, in how money is spent, in how we treat the people who live under the same roof with us.
Whatever your family situation looks like — married, single, with children, living alone, in a household where others don't believe — there is always a space over which you carry responsibility and influence. Joshua challenges us to claim that space out loud.
5. Joshua warned them it would not be easy
Here's something striking: when the people responded with enthusiasm — "We will serve the Lord!" — Joshua almost pumped the brakes: "You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God" (v. 19). This isn't pessimism — it's pastoral honesty. He knew that decisions made in an emotional moment rarely survive the grind of everyday life.
The people insisted, and Joshua then did something important: he made the decision public and memorable by setting up a stone as a witness (vv. 26–27). Decisions that go unrecorded tend to evaporate.
Discussion Questions
Practical Challenge for the Week
Following the example of Joshua's stone, make a recorded decision. Write on a piece of paper, with today's date, one concrete statement about something you are deciding before God regarding your household. Keep it somewhere you'll see it. In a month, come back and read it — and check whether it has held. If possible, share that decision with someone in the group so you can be held accountable.