Have you ever watched a child make a choice? This one…no that one…no may be the blue one…or, it must be the pink one. Yes, that is it, the pink one…I think. Reminds me of the game show where your choices were behind one of three doors. The contestant was given three options. Each option was behind a different door, door 1, 2, or 3 and you were given a little hint as to what might be behind each door. Two of the doors contained lesser items but one of the doors contained a marvelous trip to the Bahamas all expenses paid and a new summer wardrobe. You had to make a choice.
As we get older our choices are more calculated and less emotional. Sometimes the rewards are less exciting than when we were children, and the consequences much greater. To make a choice, we must first be presented with options. Without options, there is not a choice; we just accept the consequences.
Some people have suggested that God should just eliminate all evil and temptation. Then we would not have to make any choices. But that would mean eliminating our ability to choose God. Without the ability to choose, we would be compelled to love God…and that would not be love at all.
At some point in our lives we have been faced with the choice of believing in Jesus Christ or not believing. Living in the United States, we have all been faced with this decision. It is not like we are some lost tribe without printed material or radios or a TV. There are numerous churches in almost every city. We have been exposed to radio and TV broadcast, as well as friends and neighbors with the story of Christ. We have all made that choice to believe in and accept Jesus as our savior or to reject Him. And, it is an either/or choice. There is not a middle road.
God also made a choice. He chose to send his son Jesus Christ to earth, to be born of a woman, to grow up as a carpenter, and to spend the last three years of his life ministering to the people. Jesus chose to be crucified on our behalf so we could be with him eternally in heaven. His choices give us the opportunity to accept Him as our savior and believe in him, or reject him.
At the end of Joshua’s life, Joshua brought the people together and recounted all that God had done for them as a nation and warned them about making the right choice as to who they would follow and who they would believe in. He reminded the people, “You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.” (Joshua 23:14)
With many other words, Joshua encouraged the people to remain faithful to God, but knowing the choice was theirs to make, he ended his farewell to them with these words, “Now fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness…But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15) What choice have you made? “Choose for yourself this day who you will serve.”
I went out to eat with family this evening and after a rather large meal I had a decision to make…dessert? I made the wrong choice and now I am sick. By morning I will have forgotten that wrong choice. If we choose wrong about accepting Jesus, we will not be better by morning.
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