~Who Do You Serve?~

I ran across this devotional by pastor, James McDonald:

Choose this day whom you will serve. Joshua 24:15

Everybody serves somebody. Everybody has somebody in charge of his life. I’m not sure that Bob Dylan got a lot of things right, but he was right on target when he wrote the song, “Gotta Serve Somebody.” It’s the truth:

• Some people choose an esteemed person to serve. They make the dangerous choice to look to an authority figure, a pastor, a professor, or a politician. Problem is, look closely enough and you’ll see that person’s massive imperfections and become disillusioned.

• Some people serve a close relationship as their ultimate authority. “I just do whatever my wife wants.” Or “Unless my son is happy, I can’t be either.” Psychologists call it codependency, when you’re so wired into another person that your life goes sideways if his gets off track.

• Some people decide to serve a mission, a value, or an organization. They’re always raising the flag for some important cause. We feed the poor, we save the trees, or we elect the best possible candidates.

• Some people serve a personal agenda. I’ll get this degree; I’ll reach this milestone; I’ll break this record; I’ll build this company. Of course, that’s just a thinly veiled version of the most common one, the goal that most people are pursuing...

• Most people serve themselves. Most people live by this philosophy. At the end of the day, I’ll do what works for me. I’m the one who’s in charge here. That’s the religion of the masses.

If you have never made a choice, a real choice, for Jesus Christ as Lord, you probably are on this last agenda by default. You may not feel like you chose, but by not making a deliberate, conscious choice, you have been swept up in the cultural current and carried along in the whitewater of living for self.

Far truer than people are willing to admit, you choose who you serve. Your life can be different, your choice to change it is right within your grasp. The person who adamantly claims he has no choice is at that moment making the choice to articulate his frustration about the pressure from others to choose what he wants. Still, we choose whether or not to accept the pressure.

As much as someone might love you, no one can choose for you. Even God, who loves you perfectly, will not choose for you. There are simply some crucial decisions you have to make for yourself. The ball is in your court. Joshua was right when he challenged Israel, “Choose this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15).