Choices: April 21, 2010

April 21. TODAYS WORD FOR WEDNESDAY APRIL 21, 2010

CHOICES

DEFINITION:

Something preferred; an alternative; carefully selected.

SCRIPTURE:

“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

One of the best examples from the Bible on making choices in our lives comes from Joshua. In Joshua chapter 24 we read that Joshua called together all the tribes of Israel at a place called Shechem. The children of Israel were now in the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua. It seems that they were again beginning to rely on themselves and falling away from their faith and commitment to God just as they had done under Moses.

Joshua began by reminding the Israelites how God led Abraham to Canaan and blessed him with a son and grandsons plus many descendants. When they were in bondage in Egypt, He sent Moses and Aaron to deliver them from slavery. Joshua reminded the Children of Israel that God had brought them to the Red Sea and when the Egyptians came in hot pursuit, God parted the sea for them. Then He caused the sea to come together so that the Egyptians all drowned.

Although they had to wander in the desert for 40 years, God had protected them. Now they were living in the Promised Land because God had delivered them from their enemies and given them the victory in their battles

God then through Joshua told them that it was He who handed them a land that they did not work for, towns they did not build and now they were living in them and eating from the lush vineyards and olive groves that they did not plant.

Then Joshua gave them an ultimatum: If you decide that it is a bad thing to worship God, than choose a god you would rather serve, and do it today. Then he went on to say that as for himself and his family, they would serve the Lord.

Joshua couldn’t make the choice for them. God has given us each freedom to choose whether we will love and obey Him or not. Joshua had just reminded the people of how faithful God had been to them and how He had blessed them so abundantly, but the choice to serve the Lord was up to them.

The Bible reminds us that as people we have many choices to make in life. By far the most important choice is what we will do about Jesus? He died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins and we have the choice to accept or reject His gift of eternal life. This is the most important choice we all must make. Our choice will determine not only where we will spend eternity, but how we will live our life here on earth. The choice we make about Jesus will also influence us in making all of our other decisions in life.

During our lifetime we have made many choices. The first and most important was our choice of choosing God through His Son Jesus. You have the same choice. You can choose serving God, through His Son or you can decide not to choose Him. And remember no choice is a choice not to serve God. There is no in between. As parents we made many choices concerning our children. We chose how we trained them, we chose what we taught them and we chose how we disciplined them.

In marriage we chose our spouses, we chose our priorities in marriage and we chose our loyalty to God. All of us need to make these same choices and many make different choices than we made. Some were, we are sure better and some were worse. We make choices at our schools, our workplace, our church, our playtimes and our overall life style. If you ever have a question as to whether your choices are right or wrong, the Bible must be your guide book. Any decision that goes against what God has commanded us in His Word, you can be sure that it is a wrong decision. In Psalm 119:105 it reads, “Your Word (the Bible) is a lamp onto my feet and a light to my path.” If you read the Bible and pray every day God will guide you. Wise decisions bring blessings. Wrong decisions are sure to bring misery. All decisions should be made prayerfully.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Proverbs 11:30.

And he who wins souls is wise.

PRAYER:

Help me to make choices in my life that will honor You in all that I do. Make it clear to my family and friends that we all need to make choices daily between good and bad. Give me the strength to be the leader to those that look to me for direction and may my words and deeds exemplify Your name.