MARCH 26, 2015
The Definite
Choice
We
will serve the Lord! —Joshua 24:21
Read:
Joshua
24:15-24
Coming from someone
who used to value ancestral gods, my 90-year-old father’s statement near the
end of his life was remarkable: “When I die,” he spoke laboriously, “nobody
should do anything other than what the church will do. No soothsaying, no
ancestral sacrifices, no rituals. As my life is in the hands of Jesus Christ,
so shall my death be!”
My father chose the
path of Christ in his old age when he invited Jesus into his life as Savior.
His contemporaries mocked him: “An old man like you shouldn’t be going to church!”
But my father’s choice to follow and worship the true God was definite, like
the people Joshua addressed.
“Choose for yourselves
this day whom you will serve,” Joshua challenged them. “But as for me and my
house, we will serve the Lord” (24:15). Their
response was resolute—they chose to worship the Lord. Even after Joshua warned
them to count the cost (vv.19-20), they still resolved to follow the Lord,
recalling His deliverance, provision, and protection (vv.16-17,21).
Such a confident
choice, however, calls for equally confident actions, as Joshua strongly
reminded them: “Put away the foreign gods . . . and incline your
heart to the Lord” (v.23). Have you
made a choice to live for God?
Teach me all it means,
Lord, to choose You. I want my words, actions, and attitudes to show the love
for You that I have in my heart. You are worthy of far more than I could ever
do.
A definite choice
demands definite actions.
Source: Our Daily Bread 2012