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"SERVING IN SINCERITY AND TRUTH" "Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD." (Joshua 24:14) This 24th chapter is a narrative of Joshua gathering the Israelites at Shechem, recounting God's acts of deliverance, their pledge to serve God, and Joshua's warning against abandoning God. It concludes with the death of Joshua and Eleazar, and the burial of Joseph's bones.Joshua knew that his life on Earth, which had spanned 110 years, was coming to an end, so he called all the leaders of the nation together to give them his final words of encouragement and instruction. Some 24 years earlier, he heard the voice of the Lord say, "Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel." (Joshua 1:2) How often we find in and out of Scripture when God no sooner buries one of His workman, He quickly raises up another man to serve Him so that His work may continue.And so, for the next two dozen years, we see the man of God at work, winning one victory after another because of his mountain moving faith in serving his more than faithful God.Joshua lived a life of service that was one of "cleaving" to God's Words whenever and wherever they led him. As a matter of fact, his entire message here of serving the Lord was by "cleaving", not only to the people of his day, but to people of any day, can be found in the preceding chapter, "But CLEAVE unto the LORD your God, as ye have done unto this day." (Joshua 23:8) (caps mine) To be sure, Joshua was a living example of those words, and he wanted that and that alone to be his legacy. How do we want to be remembered and what do we desire to pass on to our children, our grandchildren, and our friends when we as workmen are gone?Friends, when you and I depart to be with the Lord Jesus, we can leave nothing better to those who will continue on fighting the good fight of faith with the MESSAGE of "cleave unto the LORD your God" along with the MEMORY of one who did by serving in sincerity and truth. every day.