Day 90/365- Joshua 24:15

"Real Men"

But if you refuse to serve the Lord , then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods 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 24:15 NLT)

We need some real men. Men in 2012 are often not real men. Real men are biblical men, godly men. Joshua was a real man. Being godly was the most important thing to him. This is a mark of a real man. Being God's man is what I feel God most wants from me.

Joshua was a real man in that he was leading his household to follow the Lord. He took responsibility for his family & said, "We will follow the Lord." To be in the family of Joshua meant to be a person of God. He led his household well. This is the man I want to be. I want to be the type of man that takes responsibility for his household. A man who says, "To be a Grigsby means to follow Jesus." He is the most important thing in our lives.

Also, Joshua was willing to go against the flow. He was willing to stand alone & follow the Lord even if no one else did. He told the people to choose who they would serve but as for him & his house they would serve the Lord. He did not wait to see what the majority would do. He did not wait to see what the popular vote would be. He told the people that he was following the Lord no matter what they did. I want to be this time of man. The type of man that follows Christ even if it's not popular. I want to live counter-culturally no matter the cost. I want to be formed into the image of Jesus & not the image of this world. I want to be a real man, a man of God.

I really think Joshua has been planning for this all his life. He didn't just develop this character overnight. He has been walking in the Lord's ways for years & this declaration to follow the Lord is just the continuation of following God & his ways. Joshua can go against the grain here because he did it before. He was one of two of the twelve spies that said God had given them the land. He was used to standing with God against popular opinion.

If we are going to be godly men, real men, we have to start now. We have to be following Jesus daily & being formed into his image now. Before a guy is a husband or a father, he should be the husband & father that God wants him to be. Mark Driscoll says about marriage, "Love her now, meet her later."

If we aren't being the men we need to be today, we won't be the men we need to be tomorrow. In what ways is God calling us to be real men?