Dear Family
Life is all about the choices we make. Whether rich or poor, in sickness or in health, young or old, we have choices. These choices will present themselves differently at different times in our lives, but whatever station we find ourselves in on any given day, we always have choices to make. Our reality is that the choices we make determine the lives we live, positively and negatively—it’s the principle of either sowing to please the Spirit or sowing to please ourselves. Very often it appears that the choices others have to make are a lot easier than ours, particularly when our bank balance is less impressive than others, or when our health limitations are more severe than others. I cannot, for example, choose to go on a world cruise if I have no means to do it, or to run the Comrades marathon when even my walking is impeded. That’s just silly!
Joshua, when he stood before the people of Israel at Shechem (Joshua 24), called on them to decide between the ways of the world and the ways of God where the following words are recorded in verse 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.”
“But as for me…” powerful, insightful words. A decision had been made which would invoke a life-long clause to ensure that all his actions and that of his family would be subject to the will of God.
Jesus said it like this in Luke 9:23: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
The most important choice we can ever make is obviously to give ourselves completely to God and to decide to follow Jesus in a sense every single day, but there are many, many times in any given day that we are compelled to make choices that are very often either for or against what His word teaches us.
For example, do I participate in the office gossip? Do I steal my employer’s time like everyone else is by getting to work late or leaving early or spending time on social media? Do I tell those little harmless untruths in order to save face? And so the list goes on.
Make it your mission in 2017 and beyond to always choose His will above your own, knowing that eternal consequences far outweigh our temporary earthly existences.
Every blessing!