Hello , To be or not to be
"Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!" Deuteronomy 30:19, NLT.
We like choices, especially in religion.
We love choices. We want red or blue something-or-another. We want soft or hard beds. We want to choose our own clothing. Lots of choices and lots from which to choose. We find this in religion too. Folks like this flavor or that flavor religion. Folks choose hard or soft "Christianity." Fact is, it didn't start out this way. Back in Jesus' day, there was just one church. If you wanted to follow Jesus you were admitted into His church after baptism. That's what the Bible says, anyway.
God wants us to choose.
You can see in Deuteronomy 30:19 God puts forth a choice for the Hebrews. You can choose "Me," God says or you can choose death. Wow! What a choice! On the surface, I know which I'd choose. I'd choose life. There's life with God. There's death without Him. To choose God and life we'll have to do things His way. We can't be doing things our way and expect to have life as God offers it, after all. That only makes sense. This life or death choice is still around today. You choose life through Jesus or death with Satan.
Yep, it is His way.
Matthew 7:13-14 gives the same choice as Deuteronomy 30:19. Here is Jesus' statement from Matthew, "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it." If we choose our earth-made religion, we are on the broad path, leading to death. If we choose Jesus' path though, the way to God's kingdom will be difficult. Difficult, you see. It's difficult, meaning hard. Even so, the only way is the narrow path. To find the right way, we must do as Jesus says and see what the church did back in the first century; and do that today. Amen? Amen.
Father, You devised the way to eternal life. We pray the eyes of anyone on the wrong path may see the gospel as You meant it. It's a convoluted world, even more so in religion. It's hard for people to find that narrow way. May we see the gospel. May we choose life. In Your Son's Name, amen.
This message is from Garland Van Dyke at Bible Points!Matthews St. church of ChristPO Box 1522, Bay City, TX 774141915 Matthews Street, Bay City, TX 77414(979) 318-2463Contact me at [email protected]www.matthewsstreetchurchofchrist.com facebook.com/matthewsstreetchurchofchristWant your own copy of our devotional in your inbox? biblepoints.org/bible-points(It's twice weekly and we don't bombard you with stuff!)
