God vs.
God vs. Let’s review who we choose.
Sandra was given an amazing opportunity one day. Choose which country you want Sandra, Venezuela or Brazil?
After thinking for a while, Sandra chose Brazil. She liked the people and culture and thought it would be a great fit for her future business plans. Unfortunately, Sandra learnt after that if she had chosen Venezuela, she would have been the owner of a country that was the leading producer and exporter of numerous minerals, including oil, iron ore, gold, coal, and bauxite. Once in Brazil, Sandra was given a choice to choose between acres of land that mined precious timber or land with an oil deposit. Getting excited, she chose the land with an oil deposit. Unknown to her, the land full of timber was more valuable than the oil deposit, with the COVID-19 pandemic devastating the oil industry and dropping prices below 0.
It Continues
In despair, Sandra decided to leave Brazil and go back to the United States. She had a choice between New York and Boston. She chose Boston. When the plane arrived to pick up the NY passengers, Sandra was awed at the brand new plane and red carpet treatment they were receiving. Hours later, her plane arrived, and with trepidation, she boarded, wondering if it was even safe to fly. It was a 1928 plane that looked like it was barely holding together.
As the plane flew over the mountains, one of the engines died. In fear, Sandra asked for two parachutes and jumped off the plane. She had a choice to pull the left or right strings. She pulled the left string, and nothing happened. Sandra then quickly pulled the right string, and it broke off.
In a panic, Sandra called out, “St. Francis, save me!” A hand reached out and stopped her fall. A gentle voice then asked, “Are you calling out for Saint Francis Xavier or Saint Francis Access?”
Poor Sandra.
Choices when God vs.
Isn’t that life? We are filled with so many choices all the time. Life is full of the choices game.
In the Bible, Joshua, during his last stages in life, wanted to speak with the Israelites, to remind them of who God is and give them a choice.
“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:14-15
They had to choose between serving God and other idols. God vs. Idols. Who do you choose?
Who do you choose?
Every time I hear that verse, there is a feeling of righteousness that builds within me. “That one is easy; of course, I choose God.” But do I really?
Yes, I choose God for many things, but I still stubbornly choose my idols of work, pride, money, family… the list can go on. There are many things I would rather choose than spending time with God. I can make up all the excuses in the world why I can’t pray, tithe, give to the needy, read and study my bible, go to church, or fast.
In the last book of the Bible, Jesus stated, “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.” (Revelation 3:11) What are your idols? You don’t have to tell anyone. Just think about it. Be honest with yourself. My friend, let’s hold on together to all that we have been taught in God’s Word. Let’s hold on tightly to Christ and never let Him go. Lord, I pray that when we are presented with the many choices in life, let us remember to go to God and let Him choose. The choices we make will affect whether we will receive the crown of everlasting life.
Prayer
Lord, you are the same yesterday, today and forever. Glory be to Your Holy name. Thank you that you saw and chose me. Father, every day we are filled with a myriad of choices. Forgive me when I don’t seek you in all. There are times when I just don’t want to bother you about which clothes I should wear or some other trivial matter. But Your Word tells us that You finely knit us together in our mother’s womb. Nothing was hidden from you. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book. All of these details, Lord proclaims the great love You have for us. You call us, Lord, to repeatedly approach your throne of grace. You love and care about every single matter in our life. Lord, we pray for strength, wisdom and perseverance to run this race well. In Jesus’ name. Amen