Written by Dawn Rutan
Last night I got to thinking about Joshua 24:15 (ESV), “Choose this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” We tend to fall into the trap of thinking that following God is a one-time decision rather than a daily choice. I’m not referring to the debate about whether a person can lose their salvation, but about the way we choose to live our lives day by day.
We can get sidetracked when we think of the spiritual disciplines as a one-time choice. We can choose whether to spend time in the Word and prayer, and we can choose our level of involvement with a local church. How many people think that reading the Bible occasionally or hearing a sermon once a week is all that’s really needed? I would question whether those people are actually following Christ if they only make that choice one day out of seven. Even if they do receive eternal salvation, they are missing out on the blessings of pursuing God every day.
Obedience is also a choice. Some days it is an hourly choice or even moment by moment. When temptation comes, we can choose to believe that God will provide endurance and escape one minute at a time (1 Corinthians 10:13). In a way, it is a relief to stop thinking “I have to endure for the rest of my life,” and to start thinking “I just have to make it through this minute… now this minute… now this one.”
As we’ve been learning about spiritual wisdom in recent sermons from 1 Corinthians 2, it is both convicting and enlightening to realize that seeking wisdom needs to be a constant choice as well. The news is full of celebrity pastors who neglected to choose wisely in one area or another, or they are relying on human wisdom more than God’s wisdom. Though they may not be caught in outright sin, they may be dogmatically clinging to a particular interpretation of Scripture that is not necessarily proven to be true. Every church and denomination feels at some level that they are right and others are wrong, but some are more proudly dogmatic than they should be.
Paul wrote, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2). MacLaren’s Exposition of this verse says:
“That transformation is no sudden thing, though the revolution which underlies it may be instantaneous. The working out of the new motives, the working in of the new power, is no mere work of a moment. It is a lifelong task till the lump be leavened.”
Similarly in Philippians 2:12-13: “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” The choice to turn to Christ for salvation may be a one-time event, but working it out in daily life is one choice after another.
God keeps on saying to us, “Choose this day whom you will serve, and this hour, and this moment, and this second. Keep choosing as often as it takes. Choose Me; choose life; choose health; choose obedience; choose holiness; choose wisdom.”
