Joshua said to Israel, in Jos 24:15, “choose you this day whom ye will serve.” They had to choose among serving the Lord or serving the gods of their fathers or serving the gods of the Amorites in whose land they dwelled. It was not possible for them to serve all three. They could only serve one. And they had to choose which one.
In the Christian life, you must choose between certain things, because you cannot have both. You must choose:
To receive Christ or to reject him – Acts 28:24. You cannot both receive Christ and reject him. If you receive Jesus Christ, you will be saved [Jn 1:12-13; acts 16:31]. If you don’t receive him, then you have chosen to reject him. When Agrippa said to Paul, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian,” [Acts 26:28], Agrippa chose to reject Jesus Christ. There is no such thing as almost being saved. You either choose to be a Christian by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ or you choose to be lost by not believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other choice. And the choice is yours to make. You must choose.
To do God’s will or to do your will – Matt 21:28-31. God makes his will plain to us. He does not keep his will a secret. You can find his will clearly stated in the Bible. And you can see his plan for your life unfold as you do his will. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way,” [Ps 37:23]. You don’t determine God’s will for your life. But you choose whether you will do his will or your own. You cannot do both. You cannot have God’s way and your way at the same time. His ways and your ways are not the same [Is 55:8-9]. You must choose.
Many Christians these days choose their own will and then expect, hope, pray, or what ever that God will bless what they have chosen and make it his will. That’s not how it works. God has a will for your education, your occupation, your church membership, your spouse, your home, your whole life. Are you going with God’s choice or your own?
To love God or love the world – 2 Tim 4:10. The Bible commands that we love God with all of our heart, soul and mind [Mat 22:37]. We are also commanded to “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world,” [1 Jn 2:15]. You must choose to love one or the other. You cannot love God and love the world at the same time. If you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you.
Many Christians are worldly today. They love pleasures more than they love God [2 Tim 3:4]. You must choose between God and the world. You can’t love them both. We might as well add money to this choice. You cannot love God and love money [1 Tim 6:10; Matt 6:24]. Many Christians love money and say that they love God. If you have chosen to love money, then you have chosen not to love God. It’s that simple. You can’t love them both.
To believe God’s words or to believe lies – 2 Thes 2:10-12. God’s words are true [Jn 17:17]. There are no lies in God’s words because God cannot lie [Titus 1:2]. Yet, there are many philosophies, vain deceits, traditions of men and rudiments of the world [Col 2:8] that are contrary to God’s words. You must choose which you will believe. Will you believe what God said or will you believe what man says?
Today there are more lies told as truth than there is truth told. The only way to sort it all out is by comparing everything to what God said. But if you are not reading and studying your Bible, you have no idea what God said. You have made your choice already. You have chosen to believe the lies. When you choose to believe God’s words, then you can read them and discern the difference between the lies and the truth. You must choose. And if your choice is to believe God’s words, then act on that choice and start reading, studying and believing what God said.
Conclusion: refusing to choose is a choice. You must choose which of these you are going to do and which of these you are not going to do. Too many Christians are riding the fence, and you cannot do that.