Whom will you choose to serve?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

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 (NIV))

We are faced with choices every single day of our lives, but there is one choice that we are all called to make that will have ramifications for all eternity!

That choice is about whom we will serve.

I can hear the thoughts now after people read the previous statement. “I’m a free person. I don’t server anyone but myself!” I hope that you realize that a statement like this is an instant indication that you are not serving whom you truly should be serving. We have a choice. We can either choose to serve the Lord or we can choose not to serve the Lord. Anything less than a conscious decision to serve the Lord is literally a decision to not serve the Lord. Think about that with respect to what many people actually choose to serve.

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
(Matthew 6:24 (NIV))

Being a servant is a conscious decision!

Have you made the right decision?

The wrong decision will result in a life of sin and self-centeredness. It may not result in an outright rejection of the Lord in your mind, but based on serving two masters, it will end up as the wrong decision for all of eternity. The right decision will result in blessings, grace and mercy beyond compare. It will result in a treasure far greater than anything that this world and the wrong master could ever provide, after all, all things of this world will tarnish, rust and decay. Only the treasure that is received from serving the Lord has eternal value!

Think about that in relationship to this saying that has been around for a long time.

Serve the Lord. The retirement plan is out of this world!

Whom will you choose to serve?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you hate your sinful nature?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
(Romans 7:15 (NIV))

Sadly, I know all too well what Paul meant when he wrote these words. I bet we all do!

What is it about human nature that makes us do the things that we do, especially when we know that we shouldn’t do them? Why do we react the way that we do knowing that we will regret it as soon as we do it? Unfortunately, we all probably have our “favorite” things that we hate to do. These are the things that we despise, yet we can’t stop doing them. For some people, it may be anger. For others, it may be lust. For others, it may be greed. What is it about your actions that you hate? What is it about your life that you wish you could change?

I realize that this is of little solace, but we must come to terms with the fact that even Paul faced the undesirable actions in his life. If Paul, who had a life changing, face to face encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, still had things in his life that he hated, we must realize that we will face things in our lives that we hate.

If you stop to think about this from a different perspective, it may shed a new light on this. Before you met Jesus, would you have even stopped to think about the things that you now hate? Would you have even given them a second thought? Would you even have the hatred towards these things in your life? When you consider the things that you now hate, I want you to consider the simple fact that this hatred indicates a new desire to change. It indicates a desire to repent. It indicates a desire to be something different than you were. It indicates a desire to be something different than you are. It indicates a desire to be like Jesus, and out of that desire, you see things in your life that make you realize that Jesus would not do what you do!

With this in mind, I realize that it is okay to hate the things that I do, for I know that I am not perfect and that I will never be able to walk in Godly perfection as long as I am a sinful creation. I can strive to follow Jesus, but I must realize that there will be times that I will fail. When I fail, I pray that I will, like Paul, be able to recognize what made me fail and hate what made me fail.

It is a matter of attitude.

Do you hate your sinful nature?

Copyright 1998 – 2017 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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