Daily Scripture Reading: Joshua 22-24
Focal Passage: Joshua 24:15
Our world seems to take pride in how many choices it can offer to consumers. You can find a multitude of different types and colors of cars on the same dealership lot. Attending church services one can find different venues of worship and different types of Bible study classes to attend. Sometimes the amount of choices can be overwhelming! I recall eating at the Cheesecake Factory once and they gave me a book (it was their menu) to choose what I would order for lunch! I believe the waitor had to ask me on three different occassions if I was ready to order...I told him I had not even finished reading the book he had given me.
Choices are nice but they can also be very distracting. Joshua ends his life challenging God's people to keep their focus on serving God. He spends part of this chapter explaining to them that they are going to be offered many other choices and Joshua told them in 24:15 "choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve". We must choose to serve God, but I also want you to see that he said, "this day." The reality is just because we choose to serve Him today, doesn't automatically mean we will serve Him tomorrow. We are bombarded with things that will distract us from our relationship with God: family relationships, sports, entertainment, job or career responsibilities, school, health issues, financial obligations, fitness activities, church traditions, and the list goes on and on.
What can help us make the ONLY satisfying choice (serving the Lord)? Our Sunday School class talked about this very issue this past Sunday. We came up with the ABC's of helping us evaluate whether or not we have gotten "off track" in our relationship with God. What kind of questions can help us keep Jesus the main thing in our life? These are the three questions we came up with: A - Attitude - Is my attitude toward others, God, and His church God-honoring? B - Behavior - Is my behavior toward others God-honoring? C - Consistency - Is my time with God consistent? All three of these questions are intended to be used to remind us that everyday is a day to serve God. How will you choose to serve God today?
Most of the distractions on your list are things that God would have us to do. The key is not doing them to the point of leaving time for Him out. Even getting too busy at church can make me inconsistent in my quiet time.
ReplyDeleteKind of makes me think of dieting....we must have food to live and eating is enjoyable...the key is to eat the right foods and know when to stop to maintain health.
Same with life. We need to take care of our families, work, exercise, attend church, contribute at church.....the key is to not be so busy in our activities that we don't leave time for God.
This is not always so easy. :-)
Great word Marlene. Thanks for sharing!
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