1 Peter 2:9–10 (NKJV) — 9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Who do you belong to? Some may answer the question with, “I do not belong to anyone. I am my own person.” Many people go through life believing they are their own person and that is how Satan wants us to live.
It is not that Satan wants to control your life, he just does not want you to receive the greatest life possible. Once you accept Christ you become a very special person to God. As in the story of “Little Orphan Annie” followers of Christ have been rescued from the cold-hearted sadistic hands of a world controlled by Satan. Believers in Christ have been brought into a relationship with God.
Just as Daddy Warbucks chose Annie to be his child, In Christ God has chosen us to be His eternal child. The believer in Christ no longer lives in the filthy rags of this world. We now have a new wardrobe fitted perfectly from the inside out. God has supplied His children with everything needed for life. (Philippians 4:19)
Satan wants to destroy life. Jesus has come so that we could have life and have it more abundantly. Jesus said, in John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
Joshua being only one of two men surviving the journey from Egyptian captivity and now in the promised land challenged the nation to serve God. His challenge included how God had delivered the nation. How God went before them and won the battle. How God gave the nation land, cities, and food. The nation lacked for nothing.
Joshua 24:15 is his challenge to the nation, “And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of 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.”
We know the people with their lips cried out in Joshua 24:21, “…No, but we will serve the Lord.” But their hearts were far from God.