Choosing Truth!

“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. 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 24:15,15 NIV

Making choices is a daily task and having an opportunity to choose didn't begin with us, but continues with us.

How many choices do we make on a daily basis? For some, too many to count and for others, too few to matter --they would think. We choose what we're wearing, how we start our day (acknowledging God or not), we choose to either breakfast or not, we choose to be good and kind or not, we choose to be helpful and compassionate or not. We choose to live a life that's pleasing to God or not. We choose--not God!

Everything that we "DO" is a choice! We can choose to live righteously or in opposition to God's Word--it is a choice--as is all active, deliberate behavior.

Now, some naysayers would say there are some things that are not a choice and they are right. None of us has ever chosen our parents. None of us has ever chosen the race or ethnicity into which we were born. None of us has ever chosen our intellectual ability at birth (many choose to enhance with education). None of us has ever chosen our gender at birth (though some are not choosing to rearrange God's perfection).

But now notice--what said earlier "ALL ACTIVE, DELIBERATE BEHAVIOR" is a choice and no one can deny that truth.  All sexual behavior on the part of the adult who is supposed to know better is a choice. Engaging children in sexual behavior is criminal and the choice of sick-minded deviants. Whether straight, gay, bi-sexual or whatever label a person chooses--any sexual activity in opposition to God's Word is SIN and it is a choice people make.

However, while this blog post is not about sexual sin, explicitly--it is about choosing Truth. We can choose to follow God and obey or not. It is our choice. What we have to remember is the consequences of our choices and they are not all good. Even when we obey, bad things happen to good people, but if God has designed it--the results will be good. But when people disobey God, they only have coming to them what's due for disobedience. Though man may attempt to change God's Truth in order to pacify the masses, those responsible for making Truth a lie will reap the consequences of their choices.

As we are reminded in Revelation about the lake of fire--while we yet live we have a choice to make and any who choose not to serve The Lord will reap their place in the lake of fire. Take a minute to reflect upon what has been said today--if you know The Lord, serve Him with gladness and know your reward awaits you. If you know others who don't know The Lord, please share this post with them so they will have time to make an intelligent choice that will save them from the lake of fire. Choosing Truth is the only way to live without regret.

Better Doing Right Than Wrong!

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ. But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites. Colossians 3:23-25 NLT

I remember hearing the phrase, "Willing Workers" many years ago since it was an auxiliary at the church we attended. Until this morning, it didn't dawn on me that the name was taken from this passage of scripture. The implication is that if we're going to do anything, we should be willing to do it and not do things out of a false sense of obligation or commitment.

Passion is driven by those who are willing to do what they do and the drive is intrinsic not extrinsic. If we pay attention to those people who are legitimately successful and do a world of good--it is because they are driven by innate passion to do what they do--not because others have pushed them into doing right.

With everything we undertake to do--whether in a church or on a job or in the community as a volunteer, we should be willing to do--whatever it is--and do it as unto The Lord, not people. For we can never please people who are fickle-minded and never know what they really want from others.  
Unfortunately, we live in a society that caters to the fickle-minded and we know this because of all the rapidly changing trends in just about everything, designed to cater to the whims of those who love change more than anything else.

But there is a reason why we should be mindful as to who matters in whatever it is we do. People may reward our efforts with a temporary reward, but the reward we earn from Christ is for all eternity. Jesus is watching everything we do. He knows when others have wronged us and He knows when we have not been as passionate about what we do as we could have been.

What motivates us to do what is right? I would pray that doing right for the sake of doing right would be enough for most, but I know that doesn't happen. Many of us do what we need to do and no more--seeking payment for the minimalism employed by us. However, I also know there are a number of people who go beyond what is asked and do whatever they can in order to do right and get things done.

If no one ever notices or acknowledges the things we do, we should not be concerned. Jesus is watching and nothing a mere human being could ever give us would compare to the reward awaiting us. We are indeed better off doing right than doing wrong because wrong also has its rewards and no matter what our status in life is--when we do wrong, we get compensated for the wrong-doing; a penalty that many cannot endure.

In order not to worry about being penalized for doing wrong, let's do what is right in God's sight and see how He rewards us on this side of heaven and beyond.