Your choice, the first step...

There has been a burden in my heart for so long, a desire to speak out but then I never knew what it was, the words where there but just beyond my reach, whether it was because I was worrying about things I should not have worried about, I don't know, whether it was because of the sick feeling I have felt for so long, I still do not know, but in the last couple of days these words have become clearer and clearer, till they have become so clear that I just have to speak out. The last time I felt this way I said nothing and I know everything that happened after. There are three things I should focus on as a christian, and I mean a real christian, born of water, fire and the spirit. The first is my choice to be a christian, the second is my fellowship and the final one is my future.

God created us in his own image, in his own likeness and gave us the one thing he gave no other animal on earth, free will, the ability to do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted, however we wanted, he gave us the choice as well to do either good or evil, yin and yan or however you want to put it. Now as a christian I have been told right from my time as a kid, that the christian race is a single race and that at the end of the day you stand up and give an account of yourself and all your activities on earth, and the part that always freaked me out as a kid was the fact that all your inner thoughts and your secret activities shall be brought to light. But then I begin to digress...
Now having all this in mind, with all the thoughts flooding my heart and my mind I realised one thing that the period where the race is single with just you and you running it is the race track to the choice, the race track to the decision to serve God and serve him alone, beyond that, you have the Holy Spirit and you have different people put into your life to help you along that journey (again I begin to digress). Now when it comes to making the choice that choice to follow, that choice to serve, three verses come to mind.

• The first commandment: Thou shall have no other God's before me for God is a jealous God (Exodus 20:2-4). This goes hand in hand with the first commandment Jesus stated, Love the lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength (there is no other commandment greater than this.
  
• Joshua's last words: Choose you this day whom you would serve, (Joshua 24:15-end).
  
• No man can serve two masters: (Matthew 6:24-end)
  

A lot of times we claim to serve God, we claim to worship, we claim to be christians, we claim to be born again, but then deep down we know, we know that we have not really made that choice to follow him in spirit and in truth, if it was a wedding vow we made to God we would have left out some vital clauses. Am not judging anyone or condemning anyone, God knows that I as I stand have no right to do that because I am as guilty as the next man.
The first passage stated were spoken to a people who saw God's work as never seen before and not seen since and yet they sinned and grieved God, not once, not twice but over and over again if they found it difficult to make the choice to serve God with all they saw, check yourself again, I have and I still am "Have u made your choice?".
The second passage was spoken to the next generation a people who knew God slew their fathers because of sin, a people who knew God, I mean He made the sun stand still, He made one of the greatest cities in their time crumble without them having to fire a single shot, how much more would a generation have wanted to see? Yet they did not choose to serve. What have I seen? What have you seen?
The final verse literally blew my mind. No man can serve two masters, you can either choose one and hate the other, or hold unto one and despise the other. All my life I have known that verse, never ever have i tied what is spoken of after to it. God will take care of you nobody knows tomorrow, Jesus spoke about Solomon there the richest man in the world not being clothed as wonderfully as the birds of the air. He was saying all this to a people who saw all his mighty works, to his disciples who saww all he did and yet when he was crucified no one stood for Him, again I ask, what have you seen? Nothing, nothing at all.
Having made the choice to serve one master, one holds on, no matter what, instead of acting like the israelites who worship after the parting of the red sea but cry 2 weeks later for meat and water, you act like Daniel and his friends, holding on to their choice even in the face of death. Rather than acting like Peter and the disciples running off at the first sign of trouble during Jesus trial, you act like they did after the ascension, holding on even in the face of death.
Now I am getting carried away.
Reading all these passages made me realise certain things, as christians there are things that we should have let go of. Our lives should be changed. If there are certain things we looked at as ok, we should not see them that way anymore, am not mentioning any names cos if I/you/we have sincerely made the choice to follow, the choice to obey then the spirit in us tells us when we are wrong, and if we have truly made the choice to follow we would obey the spirit.

Not to scare you (even though it did scare me) but then as a last word, Jesus said what would it profit a man if he gains the world and lose his soul. Now we as christians, living our lives serving two masters what are you doing? You are not gaining the world and not gaining your soul, What are you doing? There can only be one master, if you are not for God you can only be heading one place else. So rather than lose out on the world and lose your soul(because of your selective christianity) then you had best embrace the things of this world and know where you stand(sorry if this offends anyone but i couldn't think of how else to put it)

Choose you this day who you will serve. If God then serve him with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. You can only serve one master, either God or the world. God is a jealous God, you can not afford to have any other God's besides him. He loves you unconditionally, then show him that you are worthy of his love. Enough time spent asking for his grace, asking for forgiveness for things you know you shouldn't have done. Time is now to stand in the gap and be the person God wants you to be, which is to bring people closer to him.