HEBREWS 11:24-26 – By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.

THEME OF THE DAY. THE CHOICES BEFORE US. While living out our lives, decisions are made. For the most part, they are routine and just fall in line with the daily execution of life. At times, though, decisions become “biggies” like relocation, finances, and jobs. Yes, in the daily affairs of life many decisions are made charting our courses through life.

There is another area of decisions as well. It is in our walks with the Lord Jesus. Every day, we make spiritual decisions. Unlike the routines in life, there are no minor spiritual decisions. Every spiritual decision has consequences, good or bad, and impacts us in this life and certainly in the one to come. When it comes to making these spiritual decisions, they fall into two categories. Let’s consider each one.

First, each and every day of life, we will make the decision to draw near to God or not (James 4:8). Yes, it will be either or. For instance, if we allow the loud screams of temporal demands, responsibilities, along with earthly pleasures, to win out and gobble up all our time, we have chosen not to draw near to God. Should we choose to so fill our days with “stuff”, even good “stuff”, leaving no unhindered and unhurried time for the Lord in prayer and the Word, we have done that by choice. And none of us may say, “I just don’t have the time for unhindered and unhurried time with the Lord. You don’t know my life.” You are right, I don’t, but I read the lives of the Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul. They chose to draw near to God and none of us is busier than Christ or Paul. Our closeness to the Lord is one area of spiritual decision-making we exercise daily. We are as close to Jesus as we choose to be.

A second area of spiritual decision-making is tied to the example of Moses in today’s scripture. He makes two. First, he refuses to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. Next, he rejects seeking a life of worldly ease or comfort. For us? We face the same decisions every day. We must decide – are we going to give in to the momentary pleasures of sin and live with “buyer’s remorse” afterwards of a guilty conscience? Or, are we going to say “No” to sin and experience the deep satisfying joy of obeying the Lord? And decide we will. There is no neutrality in temptation to sin. We either surrender to it or defeat it. We also are faced with the second choice like Moses – are we going to take up our crosses, deny ourselves and follow Jesus, or seek a comfortable Christianity that requires no demands, no self-sacrifice, no death to self, and no suffering? By the way there is no such Christianity. Be very discerning of a Christian message that proclaims, “Grace, grace, all of grace” but never puts forth the high and uncompromising demands of being Jesus’ disciple. Yes, Biblical Christianity is of grace, but it is a grace that includes these words of our Lord, “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27). The German theologian martyred by Adolph Hitler, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, wrote in his classic book, The Cost of Discipleship, “When Christ calls a man, He calls him to die.” And that is a spiritual choice we make every day – die to ourselves and lives of ease for Jesus’ sake and His Gospel or live for ourselves and fail to meet the Lord’s requirements to be His follower.

Decisions. We will make a lot of them today. Some routine, some perhaps not so routine. And we will make spiritual decisions too. May the Lord help us make good and eternal ones for His glory and our good.

PRAYER: “Father, help me make wise choices today when it comes to fighting sin, the world, and use of my time.”

QUOTE: “The choices we make today not only impact our lives now but also at the Judgment Seat of Christ.”