Monday, February 13, 2012

Available, But Not Automatic, Part 2

This is a continuation of the previous blog wherein we are looking at the blessings and promises of God and how they are available, but not automatic.

"For if the words spoken through angels proved steadfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him" (Hebrews 2:2-3).

How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? I want to remind you that the word "neglect" here means to be "careless with; to treat lightly; to make light of, to not regard as being as valuable as it is." I've had to receive the Lord's rebuke and my own as well as I think that sometimes I'm simply careless with this salvation and life that God has given me. I don't always value, or treat them as priceless, as I should. And how do I do that? By giving greater importance to other things.

That can oftentimes be seen in my day-to-day decisions. Every day we are faced with a multitude of choices and decisions. So many times people ask: "Pastor, how can I know what God wants me to do? I'm trying to make a decision in my life." It's amazing to me how many people go to their pastor looking for direction. And I'm not advising against that, there is a place for it. Usually most people who come to me for counsel already have their minds made up, or they have not really sought the Lord on their own. Many times they want me to confirm something that they're suspicious of, but most of the time they're going to do it how they've predetermined anyway. Hopefully, throughout the course of this series, we'll all be better equipped in the decision-making process that God would want us to follow.

Here are the criteria for every decision you make. I want to remind you that when Adam and Eve were in the Garden, they had to make a choice between two, and they made the wrong decision. Don't ever think that you're somehow smarter than Adam. He's the guy who named all the animals. But when he was faced with "two," he made a wrong decision. And I know why he made the wrong decision; it's because he didn't follow this little piece of advice I'm gonna give you. This isn't because I think I'm so smart. It's just that it comes from a very familiar passage of the Bible. You all know Joshua 24:15, right? There's a little nugget tucked right in the middle of it, "As for me and my house we will choose to serve the Lord." He said to the people of Israel, "Choose ye this day whom you will serve." Choose. You have a choice to make. Will you choose the gods of your fathers, the pagan gods that they decided to go after? When I say, "The gods of their fathers," I'm not referring to "Jehovah," as their fathers served strange gods.

Are you going to follow that example, or will you follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the one true God? Choose this day. You know, in every choice that we make, it can come down to something this simple, and it will help clarify our decision-making. This is what drives us nuts sometimes, causes us to walk in so much confusion, and why oftentimes Christians have to pay a terrible price. We can't figure out why we're not blessed. Well, we would be if we made the right choices!

No, you wouldn't live a problem-free life, but even in the midst of your struggles, you'd know what to do to overcome, to get to the other side, and to walk in the blessings of the Lord. You can make right choices, and every choice by definition involves choosing. So Joshua says, "Choose whom you will serve." Every decision is going to serve somebody or some cause and bring about some result. Every choice you make has ramifications.

We must choose what God desires for us even though we don't always understand why He would want us to make that choice at that specific moment. We may not understand. It's called, "being led by the Spirit." Oftentimes there's contention between being led by the Spirit in obedience to God and doing what we think is best. Eve saw the fruit and that it looked good, to be desired, and that it would taste good. She took it, bit it, gave it to her husband, and he ate it, too. Don't you know that they thought that they were making the right choice at that moment? Why? What could have caused them to think that they were making the right choice? They did not give heed to the things they had heard, so they drifted away and made the wrong choices. They didn't make the decision that would serve the Lord.

So we have to ask: what god are we serving? Are we serving some strange god of the world, the god of flesh, of greed, of selfishness, the god of self? He says, "How shall we escape if we neglect or treat carelessly so great a salvation?" Our choices in life are a direct reflection of the god/God we serve. Let us choose carefully this day whom we shall serve.

~ pg   

No comments: