Jos 24:15 ..."choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
Choose. The Bible calls us to do it. There is no doubt that God calls us to make a willful choice to follow him. The difficulty with that, is that our will isn't as free as we think. It has limitations. I am not suggesting that God is rejecting a persons willful choice to follow him, saying "You want to repent and choose me but I have not chosen you, so no!" Absolutely not! The Scriptures are clear "Any who call on the name of the Lord will be saved." The limitations I see on our will is something that comes from our ability. I am free to do anything that I am able to do.
Take for instance me sitting down at a piano. I have absolute freedom, right? I can hold down any key or combination of keys for any length of time I choose. I can rest or play as I desire. No limitations. I am free to do whatever I want...right? Wrong. I am not free to play "Flight of the Bumblebee." I can't even play "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." I can't play the piano. So my absolute freedom is not in fact absolute, it is limited by my own ability.
Our choosing of God is also limited by our own ability. "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.""Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.""There is no fear of God before their eyes." Sin has so marred us, that we don't even understand God, much less seek Him.
This incredible passage shows how God moved us from death to life. Eph 2:1-9 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins (2) in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- (3) among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (4) But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, (5) even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- (6) and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (7) so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (8) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, (9) not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
I am not bringing this concept up today to join the endless theological debate. I am bringing it up for us to revel. God loved us so much, that in Christ he made a way for sinners and God haters to be made alive, and adopt them as his own children. He didn't do this because we were good enough, or smart enough, or humble enough, but because of His great Love. So choose you today whom you will serve, put your faith in Jesus Christ, confident that you are received by God through Him. But understand, this gospel leaves no room for boasting. There is no room for having enough spirituality to turn in faith...realize that even that is a gift of God.
I don't want to argue, this is marvelous. I want to worship. I hope you will too.
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