Encouragement

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Scriptures:
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Joshua 24:14 and 15
I Kings 18:21
Psalm 1
Matthew 7:13-29

Outline of Deuteronomy 30: 15-20

I. God has given you the dignity of choice - (vs. 11-17)

1) God created you in His own image -- A part of this image is free-will and the ability to choose. These choices can be good or bad -- make them good. Salvation in Christ helps to sharpen your ability to choose, so that your choices are good.

2) This means that there are crossroads in life. Not so much left or right, but upper and lower roads. (Matt. 7: 13-29)
John Oxenham said, "To every man there openeth a way...and ways....and a way...and the high soul climbs the high way and the low soul gropes the low, and in between on the misty flats, the rest drift to and fro.
But to every man there openeth a high and a low, and every man decideth the way his soul shall go."
IT IS UP TO YOU!

A mother said to her son, a famous painter, "Remember my son, you were a Christian before you were a painter". God has given you the dignity of choice...don't disappoint Him...or under-estimate yourself.

II. There is also the danger of choice - (vs. 18-19)

1) The danger of choosing the good over the best. The bad is not the enemy of most of us, but being satisfied with the good instead of the best is! The epitaph of one man was, "He did the best of things in the worst of times."

2) The danger of a selfish choice -

a) Choosing money over ministry. Money is not the root of all evil, but the love of it, is. How much money does it take to satisfy? Just a little bit more. In getting what money can buy, make sure you get what money can NOT buy (love, peace, joy salvation, eternal life, Heaven)

b) Choosing time over eternity. Too many people live just for earth...and not with eternity in mind. They end up with short term pleasures, but long term consequences. They prepare for everything but death.

c) Knowledge over wisdom -- Takes both, but don't leave God out. Wisdom comes only from God and helps you assimilate and properly use your knowledge.

Education must have Christ and morality in it...or it will fail as it did in Nazi Germany.
A soldier in Korea, fatally burned, said to his Chaplain, "This is the result of too much chemistry and not enough Christ."
The Bible is plain, "Seek first Christ and His rule in your heart." (Matt. 6:33) The highest knowledge is "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings."
(Philippians 3:10)

III. There is the destiny of choice -- (vs. 19-20)

1) Verse 15a -- Good or evil....Choose good!

2) Verse 15b -- life or death. Choose life!
John 3:16 says 'You can have eternal life" (and unique quality of life now), but John 10:10 says that that life is ONLY in Christ!"

See John 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes unto the Father, but by Me."
Thus, without the Way, you cannot go...without the truth, you cannot know...without the life, you cannot live!
Do you know of a better way, truth or life? If so, share it....if not, believe it!

3) Verse 17 -- God or idols. You will become like the god you worship. See Psalm 115 and Isaiah 44: 6-20.

4) Verse 19 -- Blessing or curse. Remember Galatians 6:7 says, "You will reap what you sow." That can be good or bad!
Sow good seed and have a good harvest. The ultimate good harvest is Heaven. The ultimate bad harvest is hell. You will spend eternity in one of these places.
THE CHOICE IS YOUR'S!

CONCLUSION:
You can exist or really live....THE CHOICE IS YOUR'S!

In Shakespeare's Macbeth, "Life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing." Another said, "Life is the jail sentence which we get for the crime of being born."
THE CHOICE IS YOUR'S!

When the great missionary, David Livingstone's body was returned to England for burial, great throngs came to view it. An old man was heard sobbing aloud. The man had been Livingstone's boyhood friend. He had scorned Livingstone's choice to serve in Africa and with a life of selfish interests behind him....and regret before him, he cried out, "I put emphasis on the wrong world!" You can be a victim of your choices!
THE CHOICE IS YOUR'S!

Sam Hadley, Director of the Water Street Mission, said, "The night I was converted, I went out and looked up at the stars. I had not seem them for 16 years....a drunkard never looks up. It is a man's privilege to relate himself to God through Christ, that he CAN look up! Live so that you can look inward with respect....look outward with sympathy...look back with satisfaction...and upward with faith!"
THE CHOICE IS YOUR'S!

Make the right choice NOW, as tomorrow may be too late!

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