Simply the Bible Blog

Choose for yourselves this day… (Joshua 24:15)

Question: Which four words change your life the most?

I’m not sure where it comes from, but I’ve heard it said that we make our choices and then our choices make us. It is true, because when we make a choice we set in motion many things that never would have occurred if we hadn’t made that choice. Eventually, we find that our entire life has changed by the choice or choices we have made. This can work positively or negatively.

Twenty-two years ago, when Cindy and I decided to move our family of four from Sacramento, California to Boise, Idaho, we set many things in motion that never would have occurred if we stayed put. We came to Boise to start a church. It has been a long, slow road to growth, complete with challenges and setbacks along the way, but we are different people now because of that choice. Moreover, we have a church full of people whose lives have also been changed by that decision.

I am convinced that we make choices every day without a second thought of how those choices will turn around and make us. Many choices have little effect. (Shall I eat white or wheat bread?) But other choices change the entire trajectory of our lives. Some can have devastating consequences on ourselves and others.

As Joshua came to the end of his life, he challenged to people of Israel to make a choice whom they would serve. They could serve the idols and gods of the Canaanites where they lived, or they could serve the idols and gods of the Egyptians where they had been slaves. But Joshua said, “As for me for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

As you look back over your life, where have your choices brought you today? As you look to the future, where and who do you want to be? What choice will you make to get there? It takes courage to reject what’s easy and popular to choose what will last.

I asked which four words change your life the most. How about these? “Will you marry me?” Think about the changes that occur by how you answer that question. But those four words pale in comparison with four other words: “Whom will you serve?” Jesus said that no one can serve two masters. Either we will serve ourselves or we will serve Christ. How you answer that question determines how you spend life and eternity. Choose wisely. It’s the greatest power you have!