Make a Choice


As a child I remember running to the local 7-11 with a quarter in my hand. That was my monthly allowance. I worked hard to get that quarter: push mowed our lawn, used a hand trimmer around the house and driveway, raked leaves, took our the trash, dried the dishes and put them away, and more. 

All of that work has just paid off and I was about to reward myself with as much candy as I could stuff in my little pockets. But as I stood there in front of the penny candy with that quarter in my hand, I became the quintessential kid in a candy store: frozen with indecision. So much candy. I wanted it all, but I only had enough for some. I had to choose.

Recently we visited Lolli and Pops in the Westfield Mall in Annapolis and it brought back memories of my childhood. They took us on a personal tour giving us samples of dozens of different, unique, and exquisite candies. Thousands of varieties of sweets all in one spot. How do you choose one from among them all?

But if it doesn’t please you to worship Yahweh,
choose for yourselves today the one you will worship:
the gods your fathers worshiped
beyond the Euphrates River
or the gods of the Amorites
in whose land you are living.
As for me and my family,
we will worship Yahweh.
Joshua 24:15 (HCSB)


Joshua had just given the people of Israel a history lesson. He reminded them of their father Abraham. He reminded them of their lives as slaves in Egypt. He reminded them that God brought them out of Egypt. He reminded them of how God lead them all of the way and the victories that God gave them.

Then Joshua called to the people of Israel to make a choice. Will they return to their old ways and worship the gods of their past, or will they continue to move forward and worship the one true God, Jehovah?

We are all faced with a choice. A choice that is much more important than what sweets we want from the candy store. A choice that lasts longer than the purchase of a home or car. A choice that has eternal consequences. Which god will we serve?

There are many gods to choose from: money, power, sports, food, sex, leisure, music, work, education, TV, Internet, etc. There are also many religions proclaiming that their god is real: Islam, Mormonism, Judaism, Christianity, Humanism, Jehovah's Witness, Buddhism, Shintoism, Satanism, and on and on. Only one of these gods can be the one true God. And you must choose.

Some people have told me that they will make that choice later, when they are older, after they have enjoyed their life some. That was their choice: the god of pleasure, or drugs, or sex. Some people, like the kid in the candy store, have said that they cannot decide which god is real so they will not choose. But they did choose: the god of doubt, confusion, lies, and deception.

Will you choose to continue to serve the same god of your past? Will you choose to follow after another god because you think it looks like an easier choice? As for me and my family, we will worship the God of Abraham, Jesus the Messiah, the Author and Finisher of our faith, the One who is all powerful, all knowing, and all present. Want to know more about my God? Ask me and I will give you a history lesson of what He has done for me and others since the beginning of time.

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