“But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15 NLT)
Life is filled choices. We must choose when to go to bed and when to get up. What to eat and what not to eat. What to wear and what not to wear. We choose what to do with our time. We choose where we’ll go to work and where we’ll go out to eat. Life is filled with choices.
Some choices are easy to make. Some are difficult.
You and I are who we are today because of the choices we made yesterday.
The choices we make today have an impact on the decisions we will be making tomorrow. They establish a pattern and a foundation for our life.
But some may say, “I haven’t always made the right choices!” But there is good news.
Who we are tomorrow, is determined by the choices we make today! Every choice we make today impacts our life tomorrow.
• Finances
• Eating
• Health
• Use of Time
• Relationships
• Spirituality – eternity
Pray about the choice to be made.
Jesus did.
Jesus sometimes prayed all night before he went ahead with something. Was He praying to know what to do? Was He praying for something to improve? Was He praying for the sake of praying?
When Jesus prayed he glorified God and then sought God’s will. Jesus’ decisions always were in line with what God decided for Him. God wants our decisions to be the things He has planned for us. Jesus said in His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before He died for God to take away what He was facing. But He also prayed, “Not my will but yours.” God knows what He is doing.
Then Jesus left the results to God. We leave the results to God. God know what He is doing.
In the letter of James, we are called to have an attitude of prayer in all situations. Pray for God’s will in our decisions whatever that decision is. When we are confronted with a heavy decision, we are called to pray. When we are faced with a life-altering situation, we are called to pray. If the decision is whether to buy something or not, pray. If it is to confront a friend living outside God’s will and headed the wrong way, pray. If it is a choice between Tim Horton’s and Starbucks, really pray! Then trust God with the results. God knows what He is doing.
Choices we should make:
Choose Faith – Not Fear
Choose be a Servant not a Slave
Choose to be a slave to Jesus Christ and not a slave to sin.
Choose to Heal not to hurt
Choose to Worship not to Worry
All of us have things we choose to do each day based on our personal set of beliefs.
We must go to God with every decision we make. Every decision is a temptation. It is a temptation to make a decision to follow God’s will and plan for us. It is also a temptation to decide to follow our own plan and desires and do what we want to do.
If we do not seek God in our decisions every day--week after week, month after month--then it means that God does not have His place on the throne of our life and gets pushed lower on our list of priorities.
We need to be honest with ourselves and with God. We call ourselves Christians, but we sometimes fail to show Christ-like characteristics in our decisions and our life--prayer, service, acts of compassion, study of God's Word, and worship. God needs to have First Place in our lives.
If God is first in our lives we will not make a move or decision without first seeing if what we are going to do is a part of His plan for us. Will we make wrong choices? Yes. Will we be led to make wrong decisions? Yes. But our God is more than faithful. He is our closest friend.
Today, choose. Does God know better His plan for us or do we know better our plan? Do we want to follow God’s plan or do we want to follow the failed plan of the world? Do we want to live with God on the throne or us on the throne?
There can be one answer.
God knows what He is doing.
“As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Hello Again!!
7 years ago
