Daily Sacrifice, February 8 (24:15)
“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”— Josh. 24:15
“ME and my house.” These words bring before us a principle that runs all through Scripture. God delights to bless the households of His people and He looks for household piety. This comes out in many definite instances, as in the case of Noah (Gen. 7:1), Abraham (Gen. 18:19), Lydia, and the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:15, 31-34). We see the sad effects of failure on this line in the instances of Eli (1 Sam. 3:13) and of David himself (2 Sam. 23:5), who failed grievously in not bringing his sons into subjection, although God overruled in wondrous grace.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes.