Joshua 24:16, 21, 24 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods….And the people said unto Joshua, Nay, but we will serve the Lord….And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.
Three times the people of God responded to Joshua’s impassioned sermon: We promise, we commit, to serve the Lord only. We will not forsake the Lord; we will obey Him. It is good, fitting, right, and proper to respond to God by making a promise. Of course, it is more important to keep the promise and be faithful to the commitment. Making promises is good; keeping them is better.
However, God’s people failed time after time to fulfill their promise. And time after time the Lord rescued them from their enemies. God was faithful to His promises, until finally He fulfilled His warning and took them out of the land. A remnant of faithful believers returned, and out of them the Son of God came to Save His people from their sins and broken promises.
“Christ Jesus…emptied himself by taking the form of a servant…becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross [Philippians 2:5-8].” Jesus made a promise and kept it for us, and by faith in Christ we, united with Him, are faithful servants, and we enjoy the reward of life with God in His Kingdom. Jesus serves!