Daily Devotional for August 21st

A Matter of Choice

Besides God, another important factor determining our life destiny is our freewill since we decide with our freewill to believe or not. The Apostle Paul points out in II Thess. 2:13 that from the beginning God chose us to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. The work of the Spirit is definitely initiated by and of God while our belief in the truth is essentially a personal response and choice by the individual believer. Paul also reminds us (Heb.11:6) the importance of faith for without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Bearing in mind that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Heb. 11:1).

I am sure most of us (if not all) must have some kind of “crossroad” experience where we are stranded at a junction of choices because we hesitate and could not make up our mind on which way to choose. The underlying reasons are various. Some may find it difficult to make a choice because they could not see through the available pathways regarding their destinations. Others may simply find that making a choice is too risky for them. Hence, they'd rather somebody make the choice for them.

As you might know, I had been serving as a civil servant before I embarked on my current career as an independent evangelist. The main reason for leaving my former job is basically that I am a job seeker in our Lord's Kingdom. As Christians, we would certainly long for a commendation by the Lord Jesus regarding our earthly works. The Apostle Paul has made a very vivid comment [I Cor. 3:12 – 14]: "If any man builds on this foundation (i.e. Jesus Christ) using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward."

A Christian brother has once asked me, "Howard, are you so sure you are making the right choice?" My heartfelt answer is: "I am not sure if my choice is the best but I believe in our Lord and His choice which is the best." I think you would agree with me that our present status as a chosen people is really a grace of our Lord who, with His wisdom and foreknowledge, had chosen us right from the beginning of our lives at least.

Let us treasure our status as the Lord's chosen people through our choice of His will and plan for our lives. This is especially important when our world is filled with so much illusions and false teachings working to hinder and disable our free choice in Jesus Christ.