February 7-Heavy Hitter

Scripture Lesson: Joshua 24:14-15

On this date in 1959 Napoleon “Nap” Lajoie died. In his 21 year Hall of Fame career he amassed 3,242 hits with a lifetime average of .339. He combined grace in the field with a great bat. He was renowned for hitting the ball hard. Lajoie topped .300 in 16 of 21 seasons, topping .350 10 times. His .422 average in 1901 is still the American League record.

Today we look at another hard hitter in our Scripture lesson. Joshua is towards the end of his life. He calls the people together and gives them his “farewell address”. He tells them to serve God in all faithfulness and not to be swayed from the foreign gods they had encountered in the conquest of the Promised Land. It is time for the people to choose who they will serve, God or the other gods. Hard hitting Joshua says it is time, but me and my house we will serve the Lord! Because of his leadership and hard hitting speech, the people decided to follow God and to do away with the foreign gods.

1. Anything we love more than God becomes our god. Who or what is our God today?
2. As Joshua said, the time is now to choose who we will serve.
3. Is there someone in our lives who need this devotion? If so, let’s share it.

Nap Lajoie was a heavy hitter and so was Joshua. May the words of Joshua resound in our minds each day, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!”