Choose Well
Joshua 24:15 “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
God created us with a free will. We can choose what we want.
Just has Joshua gave the children of Israel the choice to serve whom they wanted, so it is with us. At the end of our life what we have become, what we have achieved, as well as our eternal destination can be summed up in one word: CHOICE. What did we choose? What path did we take? Being able to choose is a tremendous blessing, but also an awesome responsibility with consequences – so choose well!
In Matthew 16 Jesus asks His disciple who people say that He is and Peter comes out with the great acclamation that He is the Christ – the Son of the Living God. ‘Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.’ Matthew 16:17
Jesus went on to explain that the path that He had chosen to do His Father’s will (Luke 22:42) was going to the cross. However, ‘Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”’ Matthew 16:22
What Peter was saying to Jesus was that He should pity himself, and why must HE suffer being that He is the Son of God? But Jesus turned to Peter and rebuked him quite sternly and said: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” Matthew 16:23
Jesus went on to say: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24) What we have here is a choice. We can choose to pity ourselves or we can choose to deny ourselves. The choice is ours. What path do we choose? Choose well. Self-pity is one of the main reasons for depression. Just start feeling sorry for yourself and you will soon feel depressed. God’s way is to choose the cross and deny self. Choose well.
We could also ask ourselves: What kind of nation do we want? We have the ability and opportunity to choose. In God’s Word we are told: “Choose some wise, understanding and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you.” (Deuteronomy 1:13) We can choose those we want to govern. Choose well.
According to the Word we can choose life or death. The choice is ours. “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Deuteronomy 30:19-20
We should not make our choice ‘in a vacuum;’ there must be a true foundation that we make our choices from. So, what is the foundation for our choice? I can think of three.
- We can make out choice based upon what I call the 51%. If 51% of the people are doing it then we choose to go along. However, are the 51% right? Jesus said that the road that leads to destruction is wide and many (51%?) are following it.
- Or we can make our choice based upon the ‘popular fad’ of today and so we choose what has become popular. However, tomorrow it will be something else that is popular and so we see that it is a very flimsy foundation for our choices.
- We can make our choice based upon our belief system whatever that might be – humanism, secularism, atheism, socialism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, etc.
Or, we can make our choice based upon God’s Word, the Scripture of the Bible. This is what I will choose. First, because it is infallible. Secondly, because it is flawless, and thirdly, because it never changes. It is the solid foundation. God, who has given us His Word is not a man that He should lie.
In closing we need to understand the tremendous privilege we have to make our own choices, but also what a responsibility hangs on the choices we make. Choose well!