“And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions?
If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered
him not a word” (1 Kings 18:21). The words spoken by Elijah should be familiar to us.
This statement appears just before the “spiritual dual” between God and the 450
prophets of Baal. What Elijah wants the people to do is make a decision. It is not
acceptable for the children of Israel to constantly drag their feet, or stumble along,
regarding who they will follow. Either choose God or choose the idol. This is sound
reasoning coming from the prophet of God. We are in the same spiritual dilemma still.
We can no longer (as if we ever had the option) to stumble around and flip-flop our
allegiance between God and the world. When we talk about making a decision, the
Oxford Online Dictionary tells us that it is “the action or process of deciding something
or of resolving a question, a conclusion or resolution reached after consideration.” This
gets right to the heart of one particular discussion often held in religious circles; does
mankind have the ability to choose or free moral agency, as some would state it? The
answer is clear from this verse alone albeit there are many others that would suggest
the same thing, the answer is a resounding “YES!” You and I have the ability to choose,
come to a settled state concerning the matters most important to us.
Consider some decisions we must make: 1) Where do we want to go to school or
where do we want our children to go to school? 2) To whom do we want to marry? This
decision, unlike some others, could have life-long ramifications if we get it wrong. Some
decisions are certainly more consequential than others. Choosing to go to a certain
school because they have XYZ program, that you want, and after that or maybe before
you graduate, you change your mind and what to do something else. That decision will,
most likely, not be life altering, you have simply changed your focus to something else. In
a marriage, however, that is not how it works. Jesus put it this way, “...Have you not
read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said,
For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and
they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What
therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:4-6). There
are certain decisions that we do not want to get wrong. We readily recognize our ability
to make these decisions, yet in spiritual matters we often yield to the false idea that we
cannot choose or be settled at all on what to do or even if it is necessary to do anything
at all.
We must make spiritual decisions. As stated earlier, there are numerous passages
that explicitly state we must make a choice. Among them we find the words of Joshua,
“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve;
whether the gods which you fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or
the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will
serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). Deciding in life to be on God’s side is the single
greatest decision you will ever make. It is one that cannot make lightly (as with
marriage) nor is it one to make on a whim, ignorant of the truth. This decision must
come after careful consideration of the question: “Where do I want to be when this life is
over?” Going to God’s inspired word (2 Timothy 3:16), with this question, will drive us to
seek “the way of God more perfectly” (Acts 18:26). To learn how we can walk by God’s
system of faith and not trust in what we see and feel. Paul wrote, “for we walk by faith
and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Three verses later Paul would say, “For we must
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things
done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2
Corinthians 5:10). The Bible is filled with examples of individuals who made the correct
decision spiritually and also those who failed to decide to follow God. Whose side are
you going to be on today?
The reality of the situation is Indecision is a Decision. Jesus reminds us, “He that is
not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad”
(Matthew 12:30; Luke 11:23). Scripture does not fail do record the accounts of some
who thought their indecision would somehow save them in the end. One outstanding
example is Pilate. When faced with the decision to set Jesus free (which he had a
responsibility to do) “I find in him no fault at all” (John 18:38). Instead, Pilate washes his
hand of the matter, “When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a
tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I
am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it” (Matthew 27:24). Pilate
believed that his decision to not do the right thing (releasing Jesus) would somehow
absolve him from allowing the Jews “by wicked hands” (Acts 2:23) to crucify God’s “only
begotten Son” (1 John 4:9). Do not be like Pilate and try to wash away your
responsibility before God. Decide to “seek Him” (Psalm 119:2), follow in his steps (John
8:12), yielding in obedience to His will (Romans 6:16), and find comfort for your soul
(Matthew 11:28-30).
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