An easy choice is normally one that is clear. Choosing a food that you love and one that gave you food poisoning. Maybe there is an activity you enjoy and one that you normally avoid. This is true for the Christian as well. Just before God’s people entered the promised land of Canaan, Joshua lays before them a choice, an easy choice. They could choose to worship the false gods of the Egyptians and the false gods of the Canaanites, or they could worship the Lord, the God of Israel. This was an easy choice for a variety of reasons. Not only was the Lord a merciful God of love and faithfulness, the other god aren’t real gods. Israel responded to Joshua that they would follow the Lord and all that he commanded them to do. Joshua’s response might raise a few eyebrows. He said they could not do it. That’s not very encouraging, but it was accurate when we look at Bible history.
Against that backdrop we look at the choice that God lays before us. He calls us to serve and follow him, to cast off all the idols – anything more important than God. Understand that there is a difference when God is commanding Christians – like his Old Testament people who witnessed God’s mercy for generations – and random unbeliever who doesn’t know God. When Joshua and our God make the command to choose, it is grounded in the fact of God’s love, Jesus’ sacrifice. The hard choice was for God to love you, knowing who you are. He knows all of your sinful thoughts – every wrong you’ve done and will do. He chose you anyway. The easy choice is what we do. We get to respond in thanks. Want to hear more about how we can respond in thanks with our time and treasures? Watch this Sunday’s message taken from Joshua 24.
Tag(s): Stewardship
Speaker(s): Fred Guldberg