With God, the choice is easy

There is no doubt about the big story of the past week. Brexit. There’s been many a week over the past two years when you could have said that, yet the past week has been a time of frenzied activity as the process nears its climax.

Tomorrow’s summit in Brussels is obviously a crucial moment.

The very mention of Brexit will have caused a reaction within you. It is the kind of subject on which people hold very definite opinions. You will be found in one or other of the two camps — Leave or Remain.

Many of us detest conflict and want to do everything we can to prevent confrontation, but sometimes we have to make a decisive choice. Sometimes we have to declare, “This is my view and I’m not for turning from it”.

There are moments when we have to declare which side we are on and there is no middle ground for us to choose.

Towards the end of his life, Joshua, the leader of God’s people, spoke to the children of Israel. As he addressed them, he was concerned at the extent to which they were compromising their faith in the Lord and becoming too assimilated to the religion and culture of other nations.

As such, he issued them with a clear challenge: “Choose this day whom you will serve. Whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell (Joshua 24:15).”

The impressive thing about Joshua is that he not only issued a challenge, but he led by example and declared: “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.”

Here’s an issue much more important than Brexit. Whose side are we on — are we on God’s side or not? A clear-cut, decisive response is required to this great question. The matter is of the utmost importance, as our response has eternal consequences. I trust that, by God’s grace, you are trusting in Jesus Christ as your saviour and that, with Joshua, you are able to say, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord”.