Decide Who You Will Worship
by Dan Jones, M.D.
Joshua 24:14-15
"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD . But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD ."
These verses are from the last words of Joshua to the people of Israel. Joshua had led these people through a remarkable time in their history. They had seen the walls of Jericho come down. They had seen the hand of God at work and had seen the defeats that came when their vision strayed from God. In these last words, Joshua wanted the people to make a choice - a commitment to serve God - or not.
As health professionals and health professional students, we face so many important life choices. We face choices about career, specialty, marriage, family, school, hometown, and on and on. Just as Joshua called on the people of Israel to make a choice, God wants us to make a commitment to follow Him and His leadership as we make important life choices.
Joshua asked the people to decide between the Lord and the gods of their forefathers. We, too, must decide between our commitment to God and our other gods. Those gods may be different for each of us, but most of us in the health professions are tempted by many of the same gods: wealth, power, prestige. Living in the right neighborhood, driving the right car, having our kids in the right school can all be competing gods to our commitment to our Lord. For some of us, career, itself, becomes a competing priority to our relationship with God.
I have struggled with my commitment to God from time to time. Sometimes I forget that my practice, my career, my assets, and even my family are not a higher priority than my relationship to God. Slowly, God has been teaching me that if I put Him first, then He will see that all these other priorities fall into line. As a dentist friend once said, my top priority in life is God-family and my second priority is God-career.
Lord, help me every day to make you my highest priority. Nothing is ever more important than you.
Dan Jones, M.D., MACP, FAHA, a board-certified Internist, a former medical missionary to Korea, professor of medicine at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Dean of the School of Medicine, and Chancellor of the University of Mississippi until 2015. Dr. Dan Jones is a member of CMDA.
Dr. Jones welcomes any comments or questions about what he has written and can be reached at - djones@umc.edu
Rounds with the Master, Spiritual Pearls from the Great Physician Devotionals are released every Monday and Thursday.
Photo by Benjamin Davies on Unsplash
