The Ultimate Choice

November 7

The Ultimate Choice by Dr. D. James Kennedy

‘…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…’—Joshua 24:15 Decisions, decisions! Many people nowadays drown in a sea of options. Perhaps you feel that way today! But fortunately, despite the myriad of decisions you must make every day, most decisions are not particularly life changing. On the other hand, we can examine decisions in history that changed the course of nations. Someone once asked Alexander the Great, “How did you manage to conquer the whole world?” Alexander replied, “By not wavering.” Is decision-making really that simple? Well, it may be more profound than we think. But often we find that as we hesitate, ponder, and consider things, we don’t conquer much of anything—not even our own indecision! We do have one decision we must make as soon as possible, and it is life changing. Joshua laid this same decision on the line for the Israelite people. He had gathered the Israelites together at Shechem, which, before the conquest of Jerusalem, was the most holy place in all of Israel. At Shechem, Abraham had built an altar when he came from Ur of the Chaldees. At Shechem, Jacob had purchased a parcel of land. At Shechem, Joseph’s bones had found their final resting place after the Israelites brought them from Egypt. At Shechem, tribes had gathered to hear the curses and the blessings from Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. At this most historic place, Joshua once more gathered the tribes of Israel and delivered his equivalent of Washington’s farewell address. Joshua rehearsed God’s goodness and His mercies to the people over the years and called upon the Israelites to make a decision. He said, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.”  Sooner or later we all must decide whether or not we’ll live for God and serve Him. Joshua ended his farewell address with the words that many a godly family has made its own: “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Do those words describe your life, your home? Today, if you haven’t already, make the decision to serve the Lord with all you have and all you are. This is one decision you’ll never regret. "The rich young ruler, in his famous interview with Christ, asked the right question, asked the right person, received the right answer, but made the wrong choice."  Billy Graham