Joshua 24:15 (King James Version)
15And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
We make choices every single day, sometimes several times a day. Do we make the right choice? Sometimes yes, maybe a lot of times no. But this one choice, who we will serve will set the course for our entire lives. Not a choice to be taken lightly although many do.
Time really is getting short. We have heard that all our lives but we are living in a time when WE are seeing prophecy fulfilled right now! Now is the time for us to make the "right" choice, although in this world, it isn't the safe choice in the natural. But in the supernatural, it makes the difference between this world being the only one you get and the promise of everlasting life. So in reality it becomes not only the right choice but also the safe choice. It's planning for the future, better than any 401k plan offered in the world today.
In the book of Acts, Stephen had a choice to make. The choice he made was the right choice but it wasn't the safest choice at the time. As we know from reading the Bible, he was stoned to death for choosing Jesus.
Daniel, was thrown into the lion's den for worshipping God. Again, the right choice but not the safe choice (on the surface). However, he knew that God would take care of him either way. Even if the lions ripped him from limb to limb, he knew God was still God! Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo when they were facing the fiery furnace said (paraphrase) that even if they were burned up, God would still be God and they would not serve a false god. In all the cases, they made the right choice but it didn't appear to be the safe choice.
Even Jesus had a choice! Sometimes we forget that. We forget that He was Lord, at anytime He could have said enough! He made a choice. The right choice because what all of the above knew was that not only did it affect their destiny but it affected each one of ours. Their strength gives us strength.
Luke Chapter 9 talks about two men who wanted to follow Jesus - one wanted to go bury his dead, the other wanted to go back and bid his family farewell.They had to make a choice. It wasn't an easy choice, it wasn't a safe choice. Certainly the apostles suffered many things for Jesus, but it was the right choice.
Every choice in life that we make sets in motion a ripple effect, with far reaching consequences. What we choose to do or say in each situation we face impacts our entire lives AND the lives of others whether we believe that or not.
Proverbs 1:22-33 (King James Version)
22How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
23Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.
24Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
25But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
27When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
29For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:
30They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
31Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
32For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
33But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
Simply put, we WILL reap what we sow. However, vs 33 says we shall dwell "safely" if we hearken to the Lord! If we choose the wrong path, we will suffer the consequences. If we choose the right way, to follow the Lord, we will reap the rewards and the blessings. He WILL sustain us. So the right choice IS the SAFE choice after all!
That doesn't mean we won't have trials and tribulations but it does mean we don't have to face them alone. It does mean we have a faithful God who will sustain us. We don't have to praise for our trials but we need to praise "through" our trials. Knowing they will only last for a little while.
We have to be sure that the choices we make are the right choices and not just "choices that seem right". Proverbs 14:12 and again in 16:25 says that there is a way that seems right to man but in the end leads to death. That's why it's so important to pray over our choices and then wait upon the Lord. God gives us freedom of choice, He will never force our will.
There are many choices for life, but for eternity, there are only two!
Heaven or hell is a choice for right now, not for later, not for someday but for today. We are not promised our next breath, we are but a vapor. The Bible says there is a time appointed for all of us, only God knows that time.
Choose ye THIS day whom you will serve.
God bless,
til next time
TawanaB
(1st one Dec. 2009)
(1st one Dec. 2009)
No comments:
Post a Comment