Life is full of choices. The decisions you make today, even the small ones, can create changes in your life that last for many years to come.
One young man decided to join the choir in high school. Because of that decision, he chose to be a music major in college. He chose the college because of their music department. There he joined a music club that met each month for a dinner where he met a young lady who was serving. They quickly became friends, dated, fell in love, and got married. After they were married, they moved to another state to work in his father-in-law's business. He served as the music minister of a local church, made many friends, had children, and lived his life. But it all was the result of his choice to be in the choir while in high school.
I remember my late night discussions with him while we were in high school. He couldn't decide: sports or music. What should it be? And then late one night he tossed a coin. If it was heads, it would be music. If it was tails, it would be football. Heads won and his life and his destiny was changed by a flip of the coin.
Today there are many choices you must make in your life that should not be left to chance. Your choices multiply and like a row of dominoes, the first choice affects the second, the second affects the third, and so on. Every day you must choose who you will spend your time with because your friends will affect your choices. Each day you must choose where you spend your money. Your financial choices today will affect your prosperity tomorrow. And each day you must choose your words, because according to Jesus, by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.
As you can see, your choices affect everything in your life. But how do we know what choices are right and what choices are wrong? How do we know whether to go to the right or to the left? How do we know what words we should say?
The answer to this question is actually quite simple. You must surround yourself with Christian friends who speak the Word, and you must keep in regular attendance at a church that teaches Bible truth and not social doctrine. To make right choices you must follow sound biblical principles and your words must align themselves with God's words.
This is why you need a strong local church family. Jesus said that we, as Christians, would be in the world throughout our life here on earth, but we were not to be of the world. (John 17:15-16.) We must be spiritually and mentally separated. And once again, this happens through consistent, diligent training of the entire family in God's Word. The job of the local church is to equip the entire family as they work in the world so that through faith (1 John 5:4) there will be victory over the world.
The church is a family and everyone in the family should be doing something to strengthen the family. When I was a very young boy, I mowed the yard while my sister washed the dishes and my mom cleaned house while Dad was at work. We all did our part.
According to the Bible, the church family is no different. Ephesians 4:16 says, "...The whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." You have a part in your church body. There is a place for you to serve where God has equipped you.
You and your church should partner together to be teaching centers for your children. Your home can be at peace and full of the glory of God. And together with your local house of God, your home can be strengthened so that the perversion of the world will not destroy your family.
I heard of a family who had a tragedy take place recently. This family did not have a church home. They did not have a family of believers to stand with them and they didn't have the Word of God in their hearts to sustain them. I'm sure that throughout the years they invested in many things, but the one investment that could have changed their lives was ignored. We must invest in our families and we do this through training at home and at church.
I encourage you to invest your time in the Word and to invest finances in your local house of God. Then as individuals and as a church family no weapon formed against you will prosper.
Devotion 0554