Joshua 24:15
It’s Time to Make A Decision
I read this text not because I plan to speak on the home this morning, but because
this text is such a clear example of a timely decision being made. Joshua had
made a decision for his family and now he is telling the rest of the nation that
it is time for them to make their decision. God or not, what will it be?
Today is the day that we honor our graduates. Graduates come in all sizes and
ages, but one thing can be said for everyone who is graduating. They are getting
older. Whether they are graduating kindergarten or college or somewhere in-
between, graduation is another step in the movement toward adulthood. And adult-
hood is where most every child wants to be.
So let’s summarize adulthood. What does it mean to be "grown-up." I think you
can summarize being grown up in two statements.
1. Grown-ups get to make their own choices.
2. Grown-ups have to live with their consequences.
You cannot have the one without having the other.
a. Making the choice is the eating the cake. Living with the consequences
is have the weight.
b. Making the choice is buying the car. Living with the consequences is
paying the bill.
c. Making the choice is having new things. Living with the consequences is
going to work.
By the way, parents, one of the best things you will ever do for your children is
let them carry the consequences of their decisions early in life. It will save
you having to carry them later in life.
So let’s have a short Bible seminar on how to make wise decisions.
I. You should make the most important decisions first.
A. Graduates, this is one of the important rules in life.
1. As you weight the decisions that you must make, always start by
making the most important ones first.
2. By doing so, you will never overlook the important decision or,
even worse, box yourself into making a foolish important decision
because the trivial choices you already made.
B. What are the most important decisions?
1. To be saved.
a. Jesus has plainly told us that we must be born again.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born
of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
b. Here is the most important decision of life and you must make
it totally on your own.
(1) Others may influence you, but the decision is yours.
(2) Do not fall into the illusion of thinking that this
decision is only about eternity.
(a) What you do with Christ will also shape every faucet
of your life.
(b) It will determine your philosophy of work, of
justice, of morality, or companionship, of politics,
of equality, of science, and almost every other
category of life there is.
c. Always remember, to make no decision is to choose to reject
Christ.
(1) No decision is a decision of "No" when it comes to
salvation.
(2) Choose Jesus today and choose life.
2. To be surrendered.
a. Let there be no question who Jesus is.
Joh 13:13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
b. Jesus is not just Savior.
(1) He is Savior and Lord.
(2) You cannot have Jesus as one without having Him as the
other.
c. I am afraid that this is where the "rub" comes in for so many.
(1) They want a Savior, but they don’t want a Lord.
(2) Friend, that kite won’t fly.
(3) You must determine as a young Christian, who is going to
be in control of your life.
d. Once this issue is resolved, it will settle so many of the
things which trouble Christians.
(1) Where will I be on Sunday?
(2) Will I be a social drinker?
(3) Do I have to give money to the church?
(4) Should I watch this show?
(5) These and many other questions are answered by asking,
"What would my Lord say about this?"
3. To be a servant.
a. With each one of these choices, the number who make the correct
decision gets smaller and smaller.
b. Few, even of those who attend church on a regular basis, will
serve the Lord.
(1) I think that our church has an unusually high percentage
of people who want to serve the Lord.
(2) We consistently have 60, 70, maybe even as high as 90% of
our people who want to serve the Lord in one way or the
other.
(3) That is not the case in most churches. The typical saying
is that 20% of the people do 80% of the work.
c. There is no greater honor than to serve our Savior and, I
think, there will be no greater reward than for doing so.
d. I appreciate seeing our young men and women taking part in the
ministries of God’s work.
II. You should not attempt to re-make God’s decisions.
A. No matter how old you get, there will always be some decisions that
you don’t get to make.
1. I wish I had the opportunity to decide where the stop signs and
the yield signs go on the highway. (My way would always be the
yield and everybody else would have the stop.)
2. I’d like to determine where my taxes go. (I would not mind paying
them so much if I knew they weren’t be squandered.)
3. But no matter how much we wish for somethings, we do not get the
right to decide.
B. That is especially true when it comes to God’s domain.
1. God is God. God is Lord. God is Master. So God decides what God
wants to decide.
2. The problem comes when we try to take a decision that God has made
and "re-make" it for Him.
C. Let me talk to those who are following what I have already said.
1. If you have not been saved, are saved and are not surrendered, or
call yourself saved and surrendered, but will not serve, you are
already trying to remake God’s decisions so what I am about to
say to you will not matter much.
2. If you have chosen to be saved, surrendered, and a servant to the
Lord, most of the time, you will not be guilty of remaking God’s
decisions.
3. However, there will likely come a time in your life, when you will
be tempted to remake God’s decisions or override God’s authority
in your life.
D. That temptation will likely occur on one of three areas.
1. Person - You will meet someone who you think is just perfect for
you, but for some reason, they not meet God’s criteria.
a. Perhaps they will be unsaved.
b. Perhaps they will not be surrendered.
2. Pay - You will find a job or some deal that will net you a lot of
money, but it will not be what God wants you to do.
a. Maybe you will have to deal with "strong drink."
b. Maybe to take this job, you will have to put it above your
family or your God.
c. Maybe you will have to produce or sell a product that you know
God condemns.
3. Pleasure - You will find something you like that you know you
should not.
a. Somethings that are pleasurable to the flesh are just wrong;
others are not.
b. God does not command us to abstain from all pleasures, but He
does command us not to be brought under the bondage of any.
E. Understand somethings before the temptation ever comes.
1. Yes, the Bible does mean what it says.
2. Yes, God did intent it for you and your situations.
3. No, your case is not the exception.
F. What should you do?
1. Take God at His Word.
2. Follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
3. Don’t place yourself into situations where you might want to remake
God’s decisions.
4. And watch God give you the best treasures He has for honoring His
decisions.
III. You should make wise decisions.
A. This is what the Bible does.
1. It gives us understanding to make wise decisions.
2. There is no area that the Bible will not help you in being wise.
3. But since we are talking primarily to younger people, let’s mention
a few wise decisions you should make.
B. You should choose not to waste your youth.
1Ti 4:12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in
word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
1. Paul is writing to Timothy about wasting his youth.
a. Too many young are wasting their young days.
b. Others despise youth when they live it foolishly or wastefully.
2. Don’t grow old too soon.
a. Quit trying to be an adult when you are only a kid.
(1) Make up, dating, being macho, talking trashy, carrying
a cell phone like some executive, having appointments,
being busy all the time.
(2) Forget all of that.
(3) Just go outside and play a ball.
(4) Learn how to be friend not a sex object.
b. Spend your youth learning and playing.
(1) As far as I can tell, these are the only two duties of
of a child.
(2) I know that some work is involved, but children are not
to be workaholics.
(3) If a person does not learn how to enjoy life as a child,
they never will!
(4) Too many parents are trying to make their kids into a
miniature version of what they want to be NOW.
(a) A miniature sports star, a miniature model, a
miniature tycoon.
(b) Don’t ruin their life. Let them enjoy the things
they do.
3. Don’t grow wicked at all.
a. Some children by the time they are thirteen have so destroyed
their own spirit with wickedness, that they are doomed to a
life of misery.
b. They are so hard, so rebellious, so arrogant, so evil.
C. And you should choose not to waste your future.
1. Prepare yourself for what God wants you to do.
a. Don’t settle for a job or a career.
b. Find out your purpose and prepare for it.
c. If you don’t know what your purpose is, prepare yourself for
everything.
2. Don’t settle for less than what God wants.
a. As you prepare yourself, offers and temptations will come.
b. Stay on tract. Stay focused. Stay wise.
c. Peace and true prosperity will only come in being in the
center of God’s will.
Graduates, I close wishing you the best, but the best this world has to offer you.
To be honest, that is just not good enough. I wish you the best that God has to
offer you. By the way, post-graduates, it is not too late for you to get on board
with this either. It is time to make a decision.
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