It’s kind of a puzzling verse. Kind of “Debbie Downer”-esque. A bit of a wet blanket thrown on what should have been a motivational moment. But noodle on it a bit, and you know Joshua’s right when he says, in effect, “You can’t do it!”

The setting? The promised land is conquered, and the territories have been distributed. The initial phases of “Operation Land of Milk and Honey” are complete. All that’s left for fully enjoying the land gifted them, and for reaping the bounty promised them, is some clean up and some on-going maintenance. Oh, and one other thing, some fidelity. Some loyalty. Some devotion and constancy of commitment. And so, before heading back into the day-to-day routines of possessing the land, Joshua seeks to spur on God’s people.

“Now therefore fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

(Joshua 24:14-15 ESV)

As you embark on a new life in a new land, says Joshua, toss the old stuff. “Fear GOD. Worship Him in total commitment. Get rid of the gods your ancestors worshiped . . . As for me and my family, we’ll worship GOD!” (MSG). Great half-time encouragement for a team heading back into the game. What an inspiring invocation.

And the people respond as you’d want them to respond.

“We will also serve the LORD, for He is our God.”

(Joshua 24:18b ESV)

Great! Right answer! Everybody . . . hands in the middle . . . One! Two! Three! Break! Let’s go do this!

Uh, not so fast. That’s not quite what Joshua does. Cue Debbie Downer . . .

But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.”

(Joshua 24:19-20 ESV)

You are not able to serve the LORD . . . That’s what I’m chewing on this morning.

You might want to. You might plan to. You might try to. But you can’t do it. Not on your own at least.

Rather than heading back into the game haughty and overconfident, Joshua wanted to send them into the fray humbled and utterly dependent. For he knew that the enemy of sincerity and faithfulness was the hearts propensity towards idolatry and fickleness. Whether it be the temptation to serve the gods their fathers served, or the lure to be enamored with the foreign gods of the world they were settling into, Joshua knew that when it came to serving the LORD with a whole heart, it would be really hard.

No coasting. They would need to intentionally, and repeatedly, put away the foreign gods around them if they were going to faithfully serve the God whose presence was among them. And though they might have a holy determination to serve the LORD, they needed also the humble realization that apart from remaining in Him, they could do nothing (John 15:5).

Fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and faithfulness . . . We just can’t do it.

We should want to do it. We should make every effort to do it. We should confess and repent when we fail to do it. But, when all is said and done, we can’t do it on our own.

Praise God, we are not on our own. Praise God that we can, in fact, obey and work out our “own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Php. 2:12-13). Ours is to confess our frailty and to humble ourselves before the Lord (James 4:10). Then He will “exalt us” (ESV), “lift us up” (NKJV), and empower us to live in sincerity and faithfulness in the land.

By His ever-present, over-flowing, always sufficient grace.

For His all-deserving glory.