Who will I serve in 2011?

Happy New Year! January seems to be a great time to purge the clutter and get back to the basics ... well, actually the purging helps you to SEE the basics anyway. So, this past week I have been "cleaning" ... and "purging" ... in an effort to be completely ready and organized for packing for our trip to Canada this Spring/Summer. Those of you who know me well, know that I like a clean & simple look to my house. Cozy and comfy, and yet things put away (in the evenings of course ... come on, I'm not that much of a perfectionist ... and I do have a two year old!).

Anyway, after hearing the message at church today ... I've been thinking about the idea of purging my "resolutions" so that I can SEE the "basics" again! What am I on about? I'm not really sure, just typing out my thought process at the moment! The message today was about how we can make New Year's "resolutions" but, usually we don't keep them because we are relying on our own strength and resolve. We don't keep them because our own strength and resolve is weak, and flawed. The passage we looked at this morning was in Joshua 24. The speaker talked about how when God made His covenant (commitment) to us, He did it in His strength and in His Perfect Way ... He will never give up on us and He will always work in us and through us if we let Him ...

I was really challenged by that, and by the verse below:

"So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods of your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord."
Joshua 24:14-15 (NLT)

The parts of the verse I have highlighted above, are the thoughts that I am mulling over right now. Do I fear the Lord, or other people and their opinions and expectations for me? Do I serve Him wholeheartedly, or do I serve myself, other people, or other things? Do I serve the Lord alone, or a combination of those mentioned in the previous question? Have I chosen today whom I will serve? And once I have made that choice ... will I stick to it? I want my answer to be: "But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord"! It really is such a basic for being a Christian, and yet I find that sometimes I overlook this basic because of all the other "clutter" in my life: being selfish, trying to please and live up to the expectations of others, doing what is "right" in the eyes of the world.

The other part of the message today that I found challenging was the "How do we do this?" (ie. serve the Lord). The three things mentioned were: needing each other, needing reminders, and needing faith. We need each other to hold us accountable, to encourage one another in serving God, and to challenge us to continue growing in our relationship with Him. We need reminders of the commitment we have made to God and to living our lives for Him. We need faith to be able to accomplish all of this and to know that God is who He says He is and that He can do what He says He can do.

If you have been following my blog, you know that generally I have put up pictures of our family and ministry life here in Ireland. I'm not saying that I won't continue to do that, but I am hoping that in 2011, this blog can also become a place where I can be held accountable, encouraged, and even (gently please) challenged in my personal walk with God. I would love for this blog to be a reminder of the commitment I have made to trust God, and to follow Him wherever He leads me - and to serve Him, ONLY Him! I am also hoping that my faith in Him will increase as I record, and look back on, the many ways He is REAL and PRESENT in my day to day life. 13+ years ago, I chose to follow Him, but He chose to lead me before I even existed!

Whew! That was quite the post. I know for some of you it may have been "preachy" or you may be wondering who hacked into my blog and posted all this :0) I guess to summarize ... I just want you to know ... that as for me, and my husband and daughter, we will serve the Lord.