My Loving Lord, in the beginning, when You created man, You gave him the freedom to make his own decisions. As a man, I have been given the ability to choose to obey You or act according to my own reasoning. You set before me good and evil and let me choose between them. You gave me the choice between life and death (both natural and spiritual) and allowed me to make my own choice. Though You possess great wisdom, power, and an ability to see all things, You let me be the one who chooses what I’d do. You watch over every action I take and You know what choices I make. Never once did You make me do anything I did not want to do. You have made Your desires known and cautioned me about my behavior through Your Word, but at no time have You ever given me permission to sin. If I do, it’s on me. Even though You only want good for my life, You allow me to be the master of my own destiny.
In the Old Testament, Joshua spoke of his decision to follow You when he said “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 house, we will serve the Lord.” He asked the people to decide whether they would obey God, who had proven Himself trustworthy, or obey the local gods who were nothing more than man-made idols. It is so easy to slip into a quiet rebellion and go about life in my own way. However, I’ve found that there comes a time in life where I must choose who or what will control me. In Your love, You have left the choice to me. I must choose between You, my own limited self, or some imperfect substitute. To follow You, I must put myself into the hands of the Holy Spirit to lead me.
The important thing I see in the case of Joshua is that he made his choice regardless of whether others around him agreed with it or not. Too often in life, what others think of me means a lot and adds to my self-worth. However, I can never let others know everything about me for fear they will reject me. With You, I know You will listen and respond to me in a way that helps me choose rightly between good and evil. If I live the way the world wants, I will live with the dread of being “found out” and not knowing what the reaction will be. You’re more than willing to allow me to pour out my heart and make known to me Your thoughts. To receive the benefits of allowing You to reign in my life, I must be willing to listen, consider thoughtfully Your advice and put it into action. If I dare to think I know better than You, surely I will stumble in ignorance and foolishness. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
Proverbs 1:22 How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will you hate knowledge?