A Life of Choices
11/02/2025
Why is it that the right choices always seem to be more difficult to make than the wrong ones? Some of the choices that we make in life aren't really that earth shattering. History will probably see very little difference because of the cereal you chose to eat for breakfast this morning - or your choice of shoes.
But there are choices that are life altering with consequences that last for eternity. This morning I want to look at a story from scripture, with which many of us are familiar, that describes such a choice. In Joshua chapter 24, we find a challenge not only to ancient Israel, but to every generation that desires to serve God. So let's look at...
I. Joshua’s choice
Let me remind you of the background. Joshua was a part of the great Exodus from Egypt and was the leader of the Israelites after Moses. He had faithfully led God’s people through the Jordan River, through the battles of Canaan, and into the Promised Land. The people of Israel had seen God do miraculous things, but now - once they'd received the land, they'd grown complacent. They were called by God to remain faithful to Him, but they chose to follow other 'gods', other religions.
Joshua gathered all Israel at Shechem. It was there that God had appeared to Abraham, there that Jacob built an altar, and now where Joshua called the people to renew their covenant with the Lord. I want to pick up the story where Joshua confronted the people with this choice from Joshua 24:14-15 (NIV)...
Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. (15) But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, 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 saw what was going on around him. He watched as those who had been faithful to God wandered away from the faith. He watched as they made excuses for their disobedience. He saw them follow the culture around them. He saw them start with seemingly small choices, which then led to them choosing to neglect God's commands; and Joshua knew the consequences of ignoring God. So, we see both Joshua's choice, and...
A. Joshua's challenge
Joshua didn’t wait to see what others would do. He led with conviction. Joshua took responsibility for the spiritual direction of his household. He made sure his family would follow God.
Joshua then basically said, ‘you have to make a choice’. ‘You can’t follow both the people around you and God.’ He took a firm stand when he said, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” That was Joshua’s choice. Those around him also had to make a choice. God created us with the ability to make decisions, to choose. It comes down to free will. We can choose to follow God’s design for our lives, or not.
Joshua's challenge started with, "Fear the Lord". To 'fear the Lord' isn’t a call to live in terror, but to have deep reverence, to live in awe of God’s ultimate holiness, power and authority. True wisdom begins with a heart that fearfully honors God as supreme. It says in Psalms 111:10 (NIV)...
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.
To fear the Lord is to recognize that He is Creator and Judge - and to live in humble submission to His will. As believers, we have to respect His absolute authority in every area of our lives. The world often treats God extremely casually - as irrelevant or as one option among many. But those who truly fear the Lord give God the highest place in their lives. Joshua's challenge, to all the people, was to...
B. Serve God faithfully
Joshua said, “Serve God faithfully and put away the gods which your fathers served.” He challenged them to serve God with a genuine, undivided heart. - No hypocrisy, no half-hearted devotion. The Israelites were trying to mix their outward devotion to the Lord along with the idol worship of the surrounding nations. We face the same temptations and try to do the same things. We may not bow to stone idols, but we can easily bow to the idols of success, selfishness, popularity, convenience or pleasure.
To serve God faithfully means to serve Him according to His revealed will. That means our faith and service must align with His Word - not tradition, not what's easiest, not feelings, but truth.
The other day I set my GPS for the Church office, not because I didn't know how to get here - but to check how long it was estimated I'd arrive. About halfway here, the map started spinning and trying to reroute me. I don't know what was going on, but the signal of where I actually was must have been messing up as it said I was travelling north when I was actually going south. Fortunately for me, I knew exactly where I was headed even as the GPS was barking out commands to turn around.
In the same way, if I don't know exactly where I'm headed in this life - if I'm not certain I'm 100% aligned with the truth of God’s Word - when the whole world starts telling me I'm going the wrong way - who do I listen to? If I let the world's false ideas pull me off course, even a small compromise can lead me far away from faithful service to God.
Each of us must ask - am I serving God out of habit, or from a genuine commitment? Is my heart divided between God and the world? If we want to truly follow Jesus, it needs to be wholehearted. I think many people misunderstand…
II. The call to follow
We don’t get to choose to live with one foot in the world and one foot in God’s kingdom; that’s not really an option. Do you act and behave one way when you're at home or work and then another way as soon as you enter the doors of this building? I’m always amazed when I hear someone correct another person’s language and say something like, “You shouldn’t say that in a Church.” If something is not appropriate to say inside this building, it’s not appropriate to say outside this building.
This building is not the Church! You don’t leave the Church when you walk out of these doors – the Church, Christ’s bride, the Church goes home, goes to work, spends time with friends and family. You are the Church! As the Church, we each are personally surrounded daily with multiple choices, to give our time, to offer greater worth (worship) to other things and people ahead of God. Paul challenges us in Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)...
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. (2) Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.
We're called to follow and we're called to make different choices than the world makes. Too many 'Christian families' live and act no differently than any 'non-Christian family'. Sad to say, but for some Christian families - most, if not all expressions of spirituality are exercised only in this Church building. All prayer occurs in this building. All Bible reading occurs in this building. All Christian teaching and instruction occurs in this building and not in the home.
What we've left to happen in the Church building needs to happen in the home first. That's our spiritual responsibility. The reality is...
A. Everyone chooses
Even not choosing is itself, a choice. And the choice really is a simple one - even if living out that choice is more difficult. It’s easy to say that we're going to follow Jesus – but doing it is a lot tougher. That’s why Jesus said, in Matthew 16:24-27 (NIV)...
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (25) For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
(26) What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? (27) For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done."
We have to make the choice to follow daily. And of course, Jesus points out that it’s not really much of a choice when you break it down – choose to follow God and enjoy His blessings or choose to follow your own plan and end up losing your soul.
Some would say, “But that’s not fair! It’s like God is saying, ‘It’s my way or the highway! You have to obey me!’” No, God is saying, ‘I created you and everything in existence, and I know how things work – follow my commands and you will be blessed. If you don’t, you won’t.’
If I choose to pick up a piece of red hot glowing metal out of a fire with my bare hand - do I have a right to complain when I burn my hand? If I choose to jump off of a 2 story building and break my leg – do I have the right to complain about gravity?
We can laugh – but do we do that same kind of thing in our own lives? Choices have consequences. I can choose to reject God’s commandment, ‘You shall not murder’ – but there are consequences of that choice.
People can reject God’s commands and values – they can reject the sanctity of marriage, they can live by their own policy for sex outside of marriage, they can reject the sanctity of human life, they can follow the gods of money or drunkenness, they can put everything else ahead of their relationship with God – but they can't then expect God to bless them when they reject Him.
But then they cry 'foul, no fair, God is mean!' But when you remove all God’s blessings, you ultimately end up with Hell. ‘But God is a loving God – why would He send me to Hell?’
Yes, God is a loving God – but He’s not a fool. Yes, God is a loving God – that’s why He gave us His commands in the first place – so we could avoid Hell. Yes, God is a loving God, that’s why He came to earth to die on a cross for our sins, so that we could avoid being separated from Him. But if a person chooses to reject God and live however they please regardless of what God says – do they have a right to complain when He doesn’t bless them with Heaven?
Yes, God can forgive any sin – but we have to choose to accept that forgiveness in Jesus and to turn around and start following God. When Joshua took a stand, he not only influenced his own household but he also motivated many others to serve the Lord. Let’s turn back to the people’s response to Joshua’s challenge...
Joshua 24:16-17 (NIV)
Then the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! (17) It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled."
The people could have argued with Joshua. They could've been offended or mad, but they answered the challenge and made commitments in their own families. Let’s jump ahead a few verses…
Joshua 24:31 (NIV)
Israel served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the LORD had done for Israel.
Joshua’s stand made a difference in the lives of thousands of people. Joshua, and his influence, was great, not ‘in and of himself’, but because of whom He served. So the challenge for us is...
B. Make your home sacred
Is your home sacred? That’s probably not something many give much thought. Do we work to make our home holy, set apart, dedicated to God? Now I’m not talking about covering the walls with Christian slogans or posters. What I mean is – is the environment, the attitudes demonstrated, the words, the actions in your home – do they reflect your genuine desire to follow Jesus? Would Jesus ‘fit in’ in your household?
Jesus’ own words from John 14:23 (NIV)...
Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."
Jesus wants to make His home with us. Are you comfortable with Him in your home? Are there changes that you may need to make? Joshua would say today, “I don’t care what everyone else is doing. I don’t care what YouTube psychologists are saying; I don’t care what the ‘spirituality gurus’ and open minded social commentators are peddling – I don’t care. In this household we will follow Jesus.”
If, as a Christian parent, you have not yet agonized, lost sleep over the salvation of your children, your adult kids or grandkids – you’re not doing it right. I love my family too much to ignore sin - in their lives, or mine. I love my family too much to neglect working for their spiritual welfare. I’m not saying that my that kids will never do stupid things or willingly be involved in sin, they will – but I will stand condemned if I just sit idly by, ignoring my spiritual responsibility, and letting that happen to my family. Talk to those in your home, in your family about your faith. Again, Jesus said in Matthew 10:32-33 (NIV)...
Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. (33) But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
Do we believe Jesus when He said that? If so, we have to face the awful reality that those in our own families who reject Jesus will go to Hell. I’m not all right with that, and I’m sure you’re not either. Faith doesn’t just happen - it’s taught, modeled, and lived.
You've probably heard people say, “I want my children to have faith, but I’ll let them decide for themselves when they’re older.” But that’s like saying, “I’ll let them decide if they want to learn how to read when they’re older.” Faith must be nurtured and guided by example.
Parents, lead your families in prayer! Read Scripture together! Make worship a priority! Let your children and grandchildren see that faith is not just for Sunday - it’s a way of life! Joshua led by example, and our families - and our church - need that same kind of leadership today.
So What?
Just to put things into perspective, when Joshua took this particular stand, he was over a hundred years old. Followers of God do not give up. Followers of Jesus don't get tired and quit. Followers of Jesus choose to follow completely, daily to serve Him no matter the cost, no matter the opposition.
We live in a world that tries to mold us into thinking that God isn’t real, that all religious faiths are just as valid, and that Hell doesn’t exist. It wants us to accept its values and standards - or lack of standards. We have a choice to make – do we follow God, or do we follow the world? As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.