Choose This Day

Joshua once declared before the people of Israel, "If serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." This bold proclamation is very admirable from a Christian standpoint.

Modern Christians don't usually fret about being led astray by a pagan pantheon as some of Joshua's contemporaries were. We often assume that idolatry is no longer a problem for us. Yet the idols of our ancestors and our neighbors still tempt us, but today those idols are things like money, power, or pride. It's easy to forget that we don't have to call something a god in order to worship it and that anything we worship instead of God is an idol. Whenever I betray my Christian beliefs in pursuit of something, then that thing—whatever it is—becomes an idol to me. For as long as I choose to put other pursuits ahead of following God, I am an idolater (even if it's only for a few seconds).

I love God very much, but if I am honest with myself, I am forced to admit that I cheat on God several times a day. Sometimes I selfishly put myself first, as though I were my own god. Sometimes I devote energy and resources to worldly goals instead of heavenly ones. In some moments I am more concerned with wealth and prestige than I am about righteousness and salvation. I'm serious about following Jesus, but I recognize that I am not perfect, and my judgment is not always sound. Sometimes I choose to serve the wrong person or thing.

Every day I have hundreds of chances to decide whom I will serve. Will I follow God or will I allow myself to be led astray? So often I blind myself to the reality of these choices and declare that I am following God when my actions show otherwise. It's easy to say that I choose to serve God, but it's harder to live out that choice. It is not enough to declare my faith if I do not live it. Because I serve a merciful savior, He gives me chance after chance to choose rightly and to follow obediently. I must choose each moment whom I will serve. Every decision I make can bolster my commitment to Christ or challenge it. I ask God to help me choose wisely throughout the day so that I can be a more consistent Christian.