Your Choice

“Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve … as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”—Joshua 24:15 NASB

Andrew Thomson stood in the pulpit of St. George’s Church in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he had been parish minister since 1814. No one knew it, but that day, April 11, 1830, he would give one of his last messages. He died suddenly a few months later at age 52. It was said, “when he was taken at an early age, the whole country wept.”

Dr. Thomson titled his sermon, “The Christian’s Choice.” His text was Joshua’s message to Israel, just before he died. His audience was mostly Christians who were “kind and faithful…just and honorable.” But, he warned, this was not enough. Good deeds were not “evidence that you are serving the Lord.”

He reminded them “the service of God is exclusive. It does not admit interference, competition, or divided homage. It deserves – it demands – and it must have – the whole man.” We can’t commit some parts to Him. He must be “Lord over all” and requires our “whole heart.”

Like Joshua, Thomson stressed the need to decide today. He argued that delaying a decision “will be the means of rendering it more difficult in the end.” Bad habits would become more ingrained. It would be harder to change.

The choices Andrew Thomson emphasized are the same choices we face as individuals and nations. How are you responding? Is Jesus your Lord and Master? Decide today to submit your life to Him without conditions.

Reflection Question:How are you serving the Lord today?