Joshua 24:15-24.    

My favorite Major League Baseball team is the Pittsburgh Pirates. Every year, the front office of the organization says that they are committed to putting a winning team on the field, and yet every year, their actions show that they are more interested in making money than having a winning team.

While renewing the covenant at Shechem, the people made a promise that they broke over and over throughout the rest of the Old Testament. Joshua tried to warn them that they weren’t able to serve God but the people remained adamant that they would be able to serve the Lord. As we read the rest of the Old Testament, however, we see that their actual actions didn’t back up the choice they had made here to serve God.

If you made resolutions for this new year, how are you doing with those? We’re a week into 2026. If one of your resolutions was to lose weight, are you still moving more and eating less? If 2026 is the year you’re finally going to read Scripture all the way through, are you still taking the time every day to encounter God in His Word?

The evidence of the choices we make are our actions.

Author: Joe Foltz