Debbie's Bible Nuggets
“The Right to Choose”
Joshua 24:14-15
“Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt, and serve ye the Lord.
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.”
Often when there's a protest you hear shouts of our right to choose is being taken away.
This is never accurate… we are all born with the right to choose. There are laws but we have the right to obey them or not. There are diets but we have the right to choose between the Twinkie and the salad.
Our right to choose has always been exactly that… a right to choose.
This past weekend a choice was made by someone … a choice to steal my son's car. A person chose to be cruel, to take something from someone. A choice to hurt someone they never even met.
My son had gone to visit his girlfriend in Greensboro for his birthday weekend. A short time before the car was stolen she gave him his birthday gift… a beautiful compass with these words engraved…
Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.”
Through the questions of why such a cruel and senseless act was done I pondered those words on that compass. In it is a choice to be made…. Trust the Lord.
Those times when we question why or our minds race with confusion or desire to “fix it” even when we can’t. That verse holds the answer.
My son also had the right to choose that day… he could have chosen to go outside to his car as he heard the glass breaking… he could have chose to protect his car and possibly lose his life… he instead chose to contact the police and hope his car would be found.
When my son called I didn't know what to think or feel, nothing is harder on a mom than seeing their child hurt or wronged whether they are 3 or 33. After the shock wore off I began to think of the words of Matthew 5:45 “it rains on the just and the unjust” I grabbed my Bible to read that verse but the Lord drew me to the verse directly above it…
Matthew 5:44
“But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.”
After knowing what had happened I too had the right to choose. I could hate this man who wronged my son, I could seek revenge, I could panic and go crazy.
Everyday I pray these words “Lord, let my thoughts, my words and my actions please you this day.”
I had that day, the right to choose… I chose to pray. I prayed a prayer of thanksgiving that my son was safe, this could have ended in tragedy. I then began to intercede for the unjust one, the criminal, the thief. I have prayed for that man everyday since and will continue.
Everyday we are given the right to choose… we choose life and death by the words we speak and the decisions we make.
The greatest of all those choices is to say yes to being a follower of Christ. To seek after him, to trust him, to know him, to love him, to honor and obey him, to abide in him.
Even the choice of Heaven and Hell is ours to make…
God does not send anyone to hell, God allows us the right to choose to go there.. God is merciful, forcing no one to choose eternity with Him.
So choose this day whom ye will serve… and as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:14-15
“Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood and in Egypt, and serve ye the Lord.
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.”
Often when there's a protest you hear shouts of our right to choose is being taken away.
This is never accurate… we are all born with the right to choose. There are laws but we have the right to obey them or not. There are diets but we have the right to choose between the Twinkie and the salad.
Our right to choose has always been exactly that… a right to choose.
This past weekend a choice was made by someone … a choice to steal my son's car. A person chose to be cruel, to take something from someone. A choice to hurt someone they never even met.
My son had gone to visit his girlfriend in Greensboro for his birthday weekend. A short time before the car was stolen she gave him his birthday gift… a beautiful compass with these words engraved…
Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.”
Through the questions of why such a cruel and senseless act was done I pondered those words on that compass. In it is a choice to be made…. Trust the Lord.
Those times when we question why or our minds race with confusion or desire to “fix it” even when we can’t. That verse holds the answer.
My son also had the right to choose that day… he could have chosen to go outside to his car as he heard the glass breaking… he could have chose to protect his car and possibly lose his life… he instead chose to contact the police and hope his car would be found.
When my son called I didn't know what to think or feel, nothing is harder on a mom than seeing their child hurt or wronged whether they are 3 or 33. After the shock wore off I began to think of the words of Matthew 5:45 “it rains on the just and the unjust” I grabbed my Bible to read that verse but the Lord drew me to the verse directly above it…
Matthew 5:44
“But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.”
After knowing what had happened I too had the right to choose. I could hate this man who wronged my son, I could seek revenge, I could panic and go crazy.
Everyday I pray these words “Lord, let my thoughts, my words and my actions please you this day.”
I had that day, the right to choose… I chose to pray. I prayed a prayer of thanksgiving that my son was safe, this could have ended in tragedy. I then began to intercede for the unjust one, the criminal, the thief. I have prayed for that man everyday since and will continue.
Everyday we are given the right to choose… we choose life and death by the words we speak and the decisions we make.
The greatest of all those choices is to say yes to being a follower of Christ. To seek after him, to trust him, to know him, to love him, to honor and obey him, to abide in him.
Even the choice of Heaven and Hell is ours to make…
God does not send anyone to hell, God allows us the right to choose to go there.. God is merciful, forcing no one to choose eternity with Him.
So choose this day whom ye will serve… and as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.
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