The True

This Day

“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve . . . as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:15).

It is that time of year again. Summer is coming to a close, cooler nights are slowly moving in, and families are moving back toward a rhythm that includes school.

As our family begins to adjust to the new autumn schedule, I am reminded of this story in Joshua that occurred shortly before the valiant leader’s death. Joshua must have anticipated his coming demise, because he calls all the people together, recites the long history of all God has done for them, and implores them to serve God faithfully in response.

But it is this moment of choosing that is most critical in the story. After recounting all of God’s goodness, Joshua tells the people it is their decision to make. But he doesn’t just abandon them to making it. Far from it! Instead, after conceding it is their decision to make, Joshua immediately steps forward and demonstrates what a personal decision for God looks like!

I elevate this story during back-to-school season because a return to school means many children enter an expanded opportunity for choosing. In many ways, the freedom of summer is often accompanied by fewer personal choices. Schedules, chores, and activities are more frequently dictated by parents, and in many ways, there is less choosing by the child. The school year changes that in many ways, and it is true across many types of schooling—public, private, homeschool, and beyond. Parents and teachers can instruct and guide, but it is ultimately the student who must choose how they will apply themselves to the curriculum, their instructors, and their peers.

Note the context in Joshua’s offering to the people: “If serving the Lord seems undesirable to you…” (Josh. 24:15a). So often, a choice for Truth requires laying down our own desires. This is a lifelong reality for followers of Jesus, who has called us to take up our cross daily and follow Him (Lk. 9:23). Talk about an undesirable task! But if we are to be called His, we must be willing to choose His path even when it is undesirable.

For the students in The Equipped family, the start of the school year is a fresh opportunity for choosing. Who will you be? Who will your teachers see? Will you set the tone for your peers even when it is undesirable, or will you set the example by demonstrating what it looks like to go first? Will you wait to see what they choose, or will you step forward and demonstrate your choice in order that they might follow?

Joshua didn’t wait. He went first, and as a result the people followed. Joshua gave the people a choice, immediately stepped forward and made his choice, and the people responded by saying and then twice repeating, “We will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:18, 21, 24).

This school year, choose to serve the Lord! Go first. Lead the way. Don’t wait to see what others might say or do. If you will choose first, it might just pave the way for them to follow your choice for God with a similar choice of their own!

Choose this day and every day whom you will serve!

World

Unfriendly Neighborhood

The United States and Canada are rapidly entering a trade war, as negotiations between the leaders of the two countries broke down last week. After the talks broke off, U.S. President Donald Trump allowed the previously announced 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods to go into effect, then threatened an additional round of tariffs on the automobile and steel industries. Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney accused the U.S. of treating Canada as a “subsidiary” and responded by announcing retaliatory tariffs effective September 8, 2026.

Analysis and eternal perspective: It is another version of a familiar story as U.S. President Donald Trump continues his strategy of using tariffs to renegotiate new deals with trading partners. Each iteration of this strategy is controversial and surfaces many different views on trade, tariffs, and economic policy, but this particular negotiation has the potential to be especially disruptive for both American and Canadian consumers. The proximity, lengthy shared border, and long allied history of the two countries all contribute to a particularly consequential moment in the relationship.

Canada is the second largest trading partner for the U.S., making up approximately 13% of U.S. trade, and the U.S. is by far the largest trading partner for Canada, accounting for approximately 76% of all Canadian trade. The sheer size of this economic activity is likely to mean consumers feel the price pressure of these tariffs sooner and more significantly than has been the case for recent trade negotiations.

We as The Equipped family can have peace in our spirits through turbulent economic times and should intentionally prioritize two biblical principles even in the face of difficult cultural and economic forces:

1) “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Rom. 12:18). You likely don’t have a direct say in tariff policy. But you can choose to prioritize relationship with your hemisphere neighbors as well as your neighbors with a different view on trade and tariff policy.

2) “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matt. 6:20). Yes, a story like this may impact your earthly storehouse, but it cannot touch what you’ve laid up in heaven, and “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21).

U.S.

A Trillion or Forty

The U.S. now has more than $40 trillion of national debt and is adding another $1 trillion approximately every five months. The latest dubious milestone was passed on Wednesday, and the most significant drivers of the rising debt are, in order: Social Security, Medicare, debt interest, healthcare, and defense. For perspective, the U.S. annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is approximately $32 trillion, which makes the national debt more than 125% of GDP.

Analysis and eternal perspective: It is very difficult to make sense of numbers, spending, and debt this large. To help with assessing magnitude, a trillion dollars is a million dollars a million times over! Now do that 40 times!

This is a story that generates finger-pointing from every corner and toward every possible faction of government. Here’s the simple but difficult truth: No party, majority, or president in recent memory has taken serious measures to curb the exploding debt. Obviously, that does not mean that every economic policy is created equal, but every flavor of partisan control has taken its turn at the levers of government while the national debt curve has continued to bend upward. In reality, this will continue until American voters insist on a change in focus from both parties.

Our last story contained a reminder to store up treasure in heaven, and this story is a good opportunity to focus in on your own handling of economic resources. How are you stewarding that which God has entrusted to you? What is your family’s debt-to-GDP, per se? Since we know our hearts follow our treasure, what does your spending allocation say about your heart’s condition?

These can be difficult questions to honestly grapple with, but they can also be incredibly liberating. There is nothing quite as freeing as ordering your economic life in a way that prioritizes generosity. It reduces the hold of earthly things, and it bestows a perspective that is far greater than our own small needs and wants.

You might not be in charge of $40 trillion, but be faithful with whatever God has entrusted to you, and in doing so, He will entrust you with far greater things!

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much” (Lk. 16:10).

U.S.

Raided and Seized

Former U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell had his electronic devices seized and his home searched by federal agents over the weekend as part of an ongoing investigation of alleged sexual assault. The former Congressman resigned from Congress in April of this year after allegations intensified, and he ended a once-promising bid to be the next Governor of California. Federal authorities must now decide whether to bring charges against Swalwell.

Analysis and eternal perspective: It seems like a breathtaking fall from grace—an ascendant national political figure in April and the target of federal raids and property seizures in August. However, this type of rapid unraveling of a reputation has been a fairly regular occurrence across human history. The seemingly mighty fall in what feels like a moment, and the common thread is the sin nature that runs through every human heart.

To be clear, the U.S. judicial system affords Swallwell (and every other individual investigated for or accused of a crime) the presumption of innocence. But even more important, each of us is in fact guilty! We are all tainted by sin and in need of the Savior’s redemptive grace.

A story like this one is reveled in and capitalized on by political rivals. But for The Equipped family, it serves as a compassionate reminder of our own inclination toward sin. It is a vivid example of our own need to throw ourselves at the foot of the cross and declare our need for undeserved forgiveness. And it is an exhilarating reminder that we have in fact been granted that all-encompassing forgiveness!

This story will be on breathless repeat through many outlets, and similar stories about politicians of different partisan stripes will lead the news on other outlets. But remember, the common thread is the sin nature we all share, and you hold the only antidote to that sin! It is a relationship with Jesus Christ! Let’s be prepared to offer it even in the most surprising situations. Sin nature is ubiquitous, but so is the unmerited offer of grace and forgiveness!

The Beautiful

Praying Posture

The praying mantis gets its name from its posture, which causes it to look like it is in perpetual prayer. It is the perfect subject for The Beautiful, because our collective desire is to posture ourselves in beauty as we interact with the world around us. There is no better way to do so than to commit to a perpetual heart posture of prayer!

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thes. 5:16-18).