CHURCH DIRECTORY & DEVOTIONAL
Every decision involves a choice
Decisions, decisions, decisions! How many decisions do we make in a day? We start even before we get out of bed in the morning. Do I push that snooze button and get an extra minutes of sleep, or do I get up and start the day with a quiet personal time with the Lord? More times than we are aware, we make decisions. Some decisions come easily and others are more difficult. Some are of little significance and others can alter our lives. But all decisions involve making choices, and choices have consequences!
From the beginning of creation, we have had the ability t o choose. God created us that way. He did not create us as robots that would automatically do what He commanded. He gave us a choice to love and obey Him or to reject Him. Eve exercised that right in the Garden of Eden when she chose to disbelieve God and to believe the lie of Satan. Not only did she suffer the consequences of her decision, but so has mankind. Scriptures reveal many other decisions that were made and their consequences. The people would trust God for a while, and He would bless them; then they would become complacent and turn away from Him, trusting in other “gods” of other nations to deliver and protect them.
Lest we feel superior, let us recall in our own recent history the times when our church altars were filled with people on their knees asking God to intervene – after September 11th and the start of the Iraqi war, and at other times of crisis. Then, what happened? We forgot! We went back to our daily routines without giving Him a second thought. Elijah asked the Israelites on Mt. Carmel, “Why do you totter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal (a false god), follow him” (1 Kings 18:21). In the last few years, God is being called on less and less while tragedies are happening more and more. Earthquakes have become almost common place, as have famines, wars and threats of wars, pestilences (such as the coronavirus), to name only a few. Believers are imprisoned and tortured in other countries daily because they refuse to renounce God. Mark 13:13 states, “You will be hated by all for My name's sake.” It is happening in our own country – believers are being penalized for standing on “Thus says the Lord.”
We have a decision to make with eternal consequences! Let us join Joshua in declaring, “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (24:15)!