Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

Joshua 24:15, NKJV

According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.

I Corinthians 3:10-11, NKJV

If you are like me, you are concerned about the state of our nation and the state of the world. People seem to be getting meaner and are openly feeding their lusts in ways that we know are offensive to God. Nations are going to war with other nations and even themselves. While this has always been a fact of this world in which we live, the violence just seems to be progressing at an alarming pace. Governments seem to be uniting against their own people - there is hardly anything in which they do not meddle in, nor does there seem to be a limit to their lust for their own power and for our money. Authorities no longer seem capable of minding their own business, and they certainly seem unable to serve in the capacity for which governments were established in the first place.

While there are notable exceptions, the vast majority of our public schools seem to be little more than an experiment in perversion. Even many of our so-called Christian colleges appear to have lost their moral compass and are striving after worldly standards rather than those established by God.

So, what can we do?

Joshua told us 3,400 years ago what the secret was: It was to serve the LORD our God and make sure that our families were doing the same! 2,000 years ago, the Apostle Paul emphasized this very standard. He told us that we were to be careful how we built our house on the only foundation that would survive these problems that are so common in this world in which we live. And we are not only to be careful as to how we build, we are to use the very best materials available.

But how does this relate to us, today? Quite simply it means that we are going to have to stop being influenced by the evil choices that the majority of people are so prone to make. Regardless of who they serve, we must choose God. This means for the single person, that they must only choose friendships and potential mates from among those who have a similar mindset. For those who are already married, that they must unite to follow Christ as the most important decision of their lives. For those who are parents, they must raise up their children in the way they should go, and they must protect their children as best they can from evil influences.

The only way to do these things is to build our spiritual houses on the foundation of Christ according to the blueprints we have been given in the Bible. We must be cautioned, however, that this will mean work. A master builder keeps those blueprints ever before him so that he can consult them in order to construct a house precisely according to the plans. And if he has questions on some area or another, he will likely also consult the architect that made those blueprints when he was designing the house. For Christians this will mean becoming daily Bible readers and it will also mean that we pray on a regular basis throughout the day to the Architect who designed our spiritual house.

It will mean worshipping with the church as often as we are able. This means not only attending the first day of the week worship on every first day of every week but also considering attending whenever the church meets for Bible study and worship. It means that we will not seek out a church that feels good and agrees with what we want them to teach, but one that most closely reflects the body of Christ that we read of in the Bible.

The level of commitment that we are talking about here will necessitate sacrifice. It may require finding other schools for your children or teaching them at home. It may require that you leave the church you are attending in order to find one that is teaching the precepts of God rather than the opinions of men. It will require you to devote daily time to Bible study and to prayer. It will require an insistence that your children be obedient to the rules of your house, because you are using the rules that you received directly from God's Word. And speaking of these rules, let us not forget that the greatest of these is love, so we must implement these rules in that love so that our family is safe, secure and blanketed with that love and compassion.

The New Year is upon us, and many tend to set resolutions as to what they desire to accomplish in the upcoming year. May I suggest that you design your resolutions to accomplish these vital goals that will assist us in building God's house in the way that will be most pleasing to Him. If you are serious about our desire to "change the world", we are first going to have to get serious about building our own house first. Once having accomplished that, we will be able to help with the changes on a bigger scale. 

So, how are you and your house doing? Are you serving the Lord? Are you building on the foundation of Jesus Christ with the very best that you have? The answer to these questions will definitely determine your future house, and it will go a long way in helping influence the eternal dwelling place of those you hope to encourage to get serious about the building of their own spiritual houses. It's a big task, to be sure, so let's get to the work while we are still able to do so. May I suggest that we begin with this resolve: "As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD".