Choose Today, Choose to Obey

“‘Now, therefore, 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 yourselves 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.’

The people answered and said, ‘Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did these great signs in our sight and preserved us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed. The Lord drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.’

Then Joshua said to the people, ‘You will not be able to serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgression or your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you.’ The people said to Joshua, ‘No, but we will serve the Lord.’” Joshua 24:14-21

There is no way to lose by obeying God. Likewise, there is no way to win in disobeying Him. When God tells you to do something, it is wise to do it based on who is doing the talking. Joshua never forgot the day the nation of Israel crossed the Jordan River. They were walking in obedience to God. Until he died, he held the memory of that moment deep within his heart, and it became a guidepost for future generations.

Obedience always brings freedom. It frees us to worship and praise God without the entanglement of guilt or frustration. It frees us to grow spiritually while teaching us to view life from God’s perspective and not our own.

Perhaps you have a difficult decision to make - one that could change your life forever. Everything within you says to trust God and obey Him. The one thing you can count on is the same thing that fed the faith and courage of Joshua. God never fails, and He will never leave you.

Tell the Lord that you will follow Him in obedience today. Ask Him to make His will very clear to you. He may choose to speak through a friend, a passage of Scripture, or directly to your heart. When you answer His call in obedience, He always responds with a blessing.

“Anything that falls out of the line of obedience is a waste of time and strength.” -S.D. Gordon