Daily Devotional
Word of the Day
Make the Choice Today
Pastor Scott
Friday, August 06, 2004
Listen to this teaching | Related Teaching | Bible Teaching | 
Print
"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"
(Romans 6:16)
We give too much credibility to sin. Its power is destroyed and it is not the dominant force in your life. All things that pertain to life and godliness have been given to you. You are the bad guy!
Anything you really want to do, you find a way to do it. You may not accomplish it, but it won't be for lack of effort. Which gods are we really serving? What are the choices? What are you doing to change your surroundings to liberate yourself to obey? What are you doing to clear your mind, so that when you pray, you can really commune with God? Do not just go through the ritual of praying. You have not prayed until you have encountered God and have been affected by His presence. What choices have we made to honor God, obey, and present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable unto God? It is all a choice.
What do you want the most? Whatever is valuable to you, you will push everything else away and say, "I'm not going to have that. I choose not to because I have a greater treasure."
When honoring God, obeying His Word and serving others become the real treasures of our life then our decisions and choices follow. The specific decisions are consequences of the general decision to honor God. Tell yourself when you rise up in the morning, "I am not going to spend this day living for myself. Lord, give me an opportunity to esteem others, honor You and live, declare and experience Your Word." By reason of use, your life pattern begins to change. Your flesh will win every time until this goal--this ambition, this treasure--becomes the desire of your heart and you return to the first love. The first love is the jealousy you had for Him when you first embraced eternal life, the commitments that you made to pour your life out to Him and for Him.
When does this heart and life change happen? It happens today by making a choice. You say, "Yes, but I have made these choices, and they have never worked." Nobody's life is on a straight incline. We have all made those choices and have not been one hundred percent successful, but Jesus is praying that your faith won't fail you. He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. I encourage you to make the choice today and the right choices tomorrow; and God will work in you to will and to do His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13).
As we walk in the spirit, the real question that we have to answer is not, "Do I have the strength to make the right choice?" but, "Do I have the resolve to make the right choice?" It's not in us to do; it's in us to choose. We choose to place the value on His glory and lordship. We choose to die that He might be exalted. We choose to love as we have been loved. We choose to give as we have so freely received. Sin is in me, but it is no longer dominant because I no longer recognize it as dominant. I have a new treasure not to serve my lust but to honor God through obedience.