My Choice

Life is filled with choices. Today I chose to wear jeans, a green shirt, and boots. I chose to buy breakfast rather than to cook. Those are simple choices.

 Other choices are more complex. Choices about how to spend and invest your money. Choices about how to use your time. There are choices about where you live or where you work. These are not as simple.

The one choice I am most interested in today and every day is the one I found while reading in the scriptures this morning. Read it for yourself. "Now fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth and put away the gods which your Fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt and serve the Lord. If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord , choose for yourself today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord." [Joshua 24:14-15]

Will I choose to serve the Lord? Will I decide day in and day out to serve the one true God? Will I elect Him day after day to rule and to reign on the throne of my life. What will I choose when He works in ways I do not understand? Who will I serve when life does not work out like I thought in my long term plans? Will I decide with God when life gets hard and the way seems unsure? Who will I serve?

Everybody chooses to serve someone. Many bow down to the god of self. They live to serve self. The enjoy whatever they want with few restraints as long as it makes them happy. They put self at the front of their agenda. They promote themselves in every realm of life. They indulge in every selfish pleasure they want.

Others serve politicians, philosophies, and other religions. Some serve money. The question posed before me today is who will I serve. Put another way who or what will I give my whole self to be enslaved as a bondservant. Who will get my allegiance?

It is easy to say "as for me and my house we will serve the Lord." Will I choose serving the Lord when things get tough. When God calls me to serve Him requiring sacrifice will I still I choose Him? When God beckons me to hold things in this life loosely and to let them go, will I still choose and desire to serve Him? Will I still want to serve Him when the nights of weeping outnumber the joys in the morning? Will I still choose to serve Him when the tears blind the path and obscures hope for better days.

Will l still bow in submission to God the Sovereign King and give my allegiance to Him when His plans clash with my plans and I have to alter my course? Will I still remain loyal in service when youth has faded and my body and mind become feeble with old age?

Then, I wonder if my household will choose to serve God. Will they elect God the King of their hearts. Will they live out their days as good church members or truly devoted followers of Christ? Will they give their allegiance to Jesus Christ for all of their days? Will they choose the easier road. A more populated road but a road leading to destruction?

These are the questions I am pondering today. You know what I have decided. I have decided to serve the Lord and with every fiber of my being to lead my family to do the same. I know full well what I am choosing. I am choosing the route of surrender.[Matt 16:24] I am choosing to relinquish control.[Gal 2:20] I understand I do not get to call the shots.[Eph 2:10] I know there are things that are off limits to me. I know there are things I may have to do that will not be popular. I know the choice of this path will often be lonely. It could lead down some risky trails. I may not come out unscathed. I still choose to serve the Lord.

So again, today as I have done numerous times, I give Jesus Christ my allegiance, my loyalty, my service, and my life. I seek to give Him all of me down to the last drop. I bow in submission to Him, His purposes, and His commands. I give my worship and service to follow Him even if none go with me. I lay my life, my family, and my ministry at His feet. Today I choose to serve the Lord. I choose for my whole household to serve the Lord. When I fail I will not quit. When I sin I will turn in repentance. When I am unsure of the direction I will wait on His marching orders. When I am hurt, wounded, and broken I will trust Him for healing and run back to the battle. I raise the white flag of surrender. No holding back. My choice today and everyday has to be JESUS!

What do you choose? Who will you serve?