The Choice

What do buying a new car, shopping for groceries, and having coffee after church have in common?

choices:

car

- old days - Model T - black

- now - color, interior, engine, transmission, option packages

groceries

- old days - a few basic choices in an all-purpose general store

- now - almost 100 hundred brands of breakfast cereal alone

coffee hour

- old days - a pot of regular coffee

- nowadays - regular coffee, decaf., tea (6 different kinds), hot chocolate, fruit juice, water, soda

Some of the choices we face in life are trivial, like what brand of sneakers to buy. But some are tremendously significant. The great American poet Robert Frost spoke of the importance of choices when he wrote the poem “The Road not Taken”. It tells the story of a traveler who is hiking through the woods and comes to a fork in the road. He pauses to decide which road to take. He looks down each trail to see if he can discover something about where it leads, but he can’t see very far. So finally he makes his choice.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Today I want to talk about the one choice in life that is most important… the one that will make all the difference. Every one of us, whether we are aware of it or not, has to make this choice. And the consequences of this choice will affect us, not only for the rest of our life, but for all eternity.

Moses came to a point in his life where he had to make this choice.

We remember that Moses, because of the sovereignty of God, was allowed to be raised by his mother and father, but…

Exodus 2:10 When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.”

Moses entered Pharaoh’s household, became the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Historians tell us that it is quite possible that Moses would have thus been in line for the Egyptian throne.

Egypt was a great power. Civilization over 1,000 years old. Advanced in learning, mathematics, astronomy, architecture. Moses had the benefit of the finest education available in the world of his day.

Acts 7:22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

Yet there came a time in his life when he had to make a choice. Would he go on to become a great Egyptian leader, perhaps even become the next Pharaoh? He was already on that road - the fast-track to success. Or would he throw in his lot with his people, God’s people - the Hebrews, who were the slaves of the Egyptians? What would his choice be?

One day, we read in Exodus, Moses was out watching the Hebrews toiling under the whip of their Egyptian taskmasters. I’m sure that Moses was burdened for his people. Perhaps he remembered his father Amram and his brother Aaron bending under the lash. He saw an Egyptian foreman beating one of the Hebrews. It was then that he made his decision. He killed the Egyptian. Why he decided to make his choice in that particular manner, we do not know. Perhaps he was thinking that if he did something dramatic, the Hebrews would rally behind him and he could become their leader. But whatever his reasoning, in that act, he was declaring that he had thrown in his lot with the Hebrews. From then on he was a wanted man in Egypt.

There are three things about Moses’ choice that I want you to notice, because they reveal something about the choice that we need to make with regard to Jesus Christ.

1. Moses’ choice affected his identity:

Hebrews 11:24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.

Was Moses a Hebrew or an Egyptian? Well, by birth he was a Hebrew, but by adoption he was an Egyptian. So Moses had to choose which he was going to be. Whose side was he going to be on? If he was going to continue to be an Egyptian, that would make him an enemy of the Hebrews. But if he decided to identify with God’s people, then he would become an enemy of the Egyptians. He couldn’t sit on the fence. He had to make a choice.

When it comes to Jesus Christ, God calls each one of us to make this kind of choice. You have to choose whose side you’re going to be on. Are you going to identify with God’s people, and belong to Jesus Christ, or are you going to identify with the world, and belong to Satan? You cannot sit on the fence.

There is a sense in which we are all like Moses. We all belong to God when we are born. God gives us the gift of life, and as little children, we belong to him. But one day, when we are old enough to be held accountable for our actions, we choose to go our own way. We sin, deliberately and willfully. We choose to disobey God. We choose to leave God out of our lives. And at that point, Satan comes along and “adopts” us into his family. That is why, when Jesus was disputing with the Pharisees, he said to them “You are of your father the devil!” They belonged to Satan. They didn’t start out that way, as little babies. But a lifetime of sinning had put them there. And don’t forget, they were the most religious people of their day. Sin in our life makes us children of Satan.

When a person wants to become a citizen of the United States, the U.S. government requires that person to renounce his citizenship in any foreign country. In order to gain his new identity as an American, he has to give up his old identity. He has to make a choice.

In the same way, when you come to Jesus Christ, He wants to give you a whole new identity - He wants to make you a child of God. But many people try to sit on the fence, with two identities. On Sunday, they want to be Christians. But the rest of the week, they want to belong to the world: they want to do the things the world does. And the world is controlled by Satan, and is against God and the things of God. But God will not let you sit on the fence. God will not accept you on those terms. If you want a new identity as a child of God, you must renounce your former identity as a child of Satan, a child of the world. You have to make a choice.

There once was a young man named George who loved to sing. He was a Christian. Many years ago, in the days before television, radio was the exciting place to be in show-business. George came to New York City to audition at a radio station. He was offered a contract. He asked the managers if he could sing Gospel songs on the program. They said that he might be able to use one occasionally, but mostly they would expect him to sing the songs on the Hit Parade. George had to make a decision. Would he sign the contract?

His mother was praying for him. She sent him a poem she had found. It went like this:

I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold

I’d rather have Jesus than riches untold

I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame

I’d rather be true to His holy name.

George read the poem and then he sat down at the piano and put that poem to music. And he decided to turn down the contract with the radio station. But soon after, he was offered another job at a Christian radio station in Chicago, singing Gospel songs. While he was there, he met a young evangelist whose name was Billy. The two men struck up a friendship, and George Beverly Shea has been singing at Billy Graham Crusades ever since. One of the best loved songs he sings is “I’d rather have Jesus.”

You have to make a choice. And your choice involves your identity.

2. It is a choice which affects the way you live.

Hebrews 11:25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.

Moses chose to accept a new identity as one of God’s people. And that choice made a radical difference in his lifestyle from that day forward. Rather than sitting in a palace, he would soon find himself wandering in the desert. Rather than having servants and slaves bow down to him and fulfill his every wish, he would become one of the slaves himself. Rather than being in line for the throne of Egypt, he would be an outcast - a fugitive with a price on his head. His changed identity totally changed the way he lived.

When we come to Jesus Christ, not only does he give us a new identity, but he calls us to a new lifestyle as well. The two are inextricable - you can’t have one without the other. The Apostle John in his first letter goes to great lengths to show that a person who says he is a Christian must live like a Christian, or his identity is suspect.

1 John 2:4 The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

1 John 2:6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

1 John 3:6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

1 John 3:8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning… No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

These are very powerful words. The Bible says that if you say that you are a Christian, but your life shows no evidence of it, then you are not a Christian. Your true identity is revealed in your behavior.

The latest California fad is to have pigs as pets. People are actually adopting Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs as pets. I suppose you could take a pig and put a ribbon around his neck, and scrub him with sweet-smelling shampoo until his bristles were squeaky clean, but he’d still be a pig. And he’d still act like a pig. You’d discover that if you let him out near a mud hole! His identity would be revealed in his behavior.

The Apostle Peter said concerning people who masquerade as Christians:

2 Peter 2:22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”

You can tell whose side people are on by the way they act. Doesn’t matter whether they are in church every Sunday. Just because you are in a garage doesn’t make you a car. Your identity is revealed in your behavior.

If you would be a follower of Jesus Christ, you will have to be willing to have Him totally change your life, your attitudes, your plans, your priorities - everything about you. If you are not willing to have Jesus take control of your life, then He is not willing to have you as His follower. It is as simple as that. He has no room in his kingdom for half-hearted disciples.

Remember the rich young ruler? He came to Jesus, said he wanted to follow him wherever he went. Jesus said, “Fine, go sell all you possess and give the money to the poor.” The man turned away and left. He wasn’t willing to follow Jesus if it meant changing his lifestyle.

When you come to Jesus, you not only choose a new identity, you choose a new way of life as well.

3. The choice involves your reason for living.

Hebrews 11:26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

Moses, although he lived 3,500 years ago, was really no different from us. He had to ask the question “What am I living for? What is the purpose of my life?” That is a question we all have to ask.

Now if Moses had chosen to remain an Egyptian, the purpose of his life would probably have boiled down to becoming the next Pharaoh of Egypt, to have a successful reign, to die and have a magnificent funeral and be buried in the tomb of a king. And some day 3,500 years later, maybe an archaeologist would dig up his tomb, decipher the hieroglyphics on it, and tell us about pharaoh Moses - an obscure Egyptian king who lived and died a long time ago. He would have been no more than a footnote in a history book.

But because Moses chose to become a child of God, his life had tremendous significance. Because he chose to be the man God wanted him to be, he changed the course of history and played a very special part in God’s program of redemption for the world.

When Moses made his choice, his identity changed, his way of life changed, and his reason for living changed too. Instead of living for whatever he could get out of this life, he started living with eternity in view. He wanted to live his life so as to please God, who would reward him in eternity.

The treasures of Egypt, the riches of pharaoh’s household, the pleasure, the luxury that was his for the asking all paled into insignificance in comparison with the joy of knowing that he was living for God.

What are you living for, today? Why are you alive? To make money? To be a success? To find recognition, or praise, or human love?

During the Byron Nelson Golf Tournament in Dallas in 1981, a massive tree limb broke off and fell on a spectator, who was killed instantly. It happened near the third hole, where a golfer named Charles Coody was playing at the time. Shortly after the accident, Coody was interviewed, and he said “After running over and seeing that accident, I tried to play golf, but I had no desire to play after that. All of a sudden those three-foot putts didn’t seem all that important anymore.”

Are you living your life just to make three-foot putts? Or are you living for a greater cause?

All these things - money, success, popularity, even the love of family and friends - will turn to dust when you die. And then you’ll be face to face with the God who made you. And he’ll be asking you “Why did you live your life the way you did? I gave you your life. Did you live it for me? Or did you live it for yourself?”

It all boils down to the choice. Christ offers you a new identity, a new way of life, and a new reason for living. Will you accept his offer? The choice is yours. The key to Moses’ choice, according to the book of Hebrews, was faith. He made his choice by faith. And that is the key to your choice to follow Jesus Christ. Faith in God and His Word.

Now perhaps you have made the choice to commit your life to Christ at some point in your life. Maybe you did it as a child, or as a youth, or as an adult. I want to remind you that just because you made that choice at some point in your life, doesn’t mean that you no longer need to think about it.

In a sense, all of us need to reaffirm that choice every day. How are you going to live today? Are you going to live today in your new identity? Are you going to let your way of life today reflect who you belong to? And is your reason for living today to please God? You need to bring that lifetime choice down to the level of an everyday choice.