THE POWER OF CHOICE (1)

“...choose today whom you will serve... But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.”(Joshua 24:15 NLT)

One of the most beautiful gifts of God to us is the ability to make personal choices.  To be truly free as humans, must involve the power to choose what we like and what we don’t like. Through the power of choice, we become to a very large measure the architects of our destinies. Our power of choice is so extensive in its scope that we even have the power to choose or to reject God. Joshua challenged the people of Israel saying, “But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15 NLT). The people had the choice to serve God or the idol-gods of the ungodly people around them.  However, Joshua and his family had chosen to serve the God of their fathers –Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  At a time when the people of God were neck-deep into apostasy, Elijah called them together on Mount Carmel and challenged them to exercise their power of choice. “Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent” (1 Kings 18:21 NLT). As it was then so it seems to be now.  Several people in church are neither for God nor against Him. They are not wholeheartedly devoted to Him and to His church.  Are you likely to be in the category of those who are “hobbling between two opinions?”   

The choices you make define your character and your character reflect in your choices. When you choose to serve God, it will show in your attitudes, in your commitments and in your relationships. Choose God this day and walk with Him every day of this year.  Choosing God may not mean easy life, but it will always mean good life. It may not mean problem free life, but it will always mean grace-filled life. It may not mean temptation-proof life, but it will always mean victorious living.  Choice is an act of faith. Moses modelled how we can appropriate faith in choosing God. “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward” (Hebrews 11:24-26 NKJV). When Moses realised that he indeed had a choice and did not have to be what he had been conditioned to be or bear the false identity he was brought up to bear, he invoked the power of choice and opted for God. In his case, choosing God meant forfeiting the privileges of being the heir-apparent to the throne of Egypt, but it did not matter to him. He chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season. He esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. In other words, he placed greater value on Christ than on the economic, social and political benefits his former false identity guaranteed for him. Imagine for a moment that Moses had chosen to remain an Egyptian; his life’s trajectory would have been totally different. Through the power of choice, he became the architect of his destiny. He was able to make such great and wonderful choices because he looked forward to the reward of seeing God in heaven for all eternity. Choose heaven instead of hell! Making heaven must be the overarching purpose for all your choices. 

Life in this would demand that we make bold and clear choices like Moses and Joshua. We must choose God, cost what it may and stand by that choice every moment of our life. We must choose to serve God in fellowship with other believers as we wholeheartedly participate in the life and activities of the church. We must choose to encourage others to embrace Christ and serve Him with all their heart, mind, and strength. We must choose to honour God with our lives and substance so that our King will suffer no loss.  We must choose God instead Satan, life instead of death, and blessings instead of curses as we together pray with one accord –Thy Kingdom Come, oh God!

NAMING YOUR YEAR

“Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name” (Genesis 1:19 KJV)

Naming is a common human phenomenon and a prominent part of biblical narrative. The naming ceremonies of newly born children are usually joyful and prayerful occasions.  In the creation story, God delegated the responsibility of naming all the animals to Adam. “And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name.”  Some scholars believe that it was through the power conferred by God on Adam to name the animals in Eden that human beings gained dominion over them. The power of naming confers identity to what or who is named and sometimes describe their characters. Here are a few examples. After Jacob deceived Isaac to collect the blessing of the first born, Esau commented about Jacob, “And Esau said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and now look, he has taken away my blessing!”... (Genesis 27:36 NKJV). Abigail said of her husband, “...For as his name is, so is he: Nabal is his name, and folly is with him!...” (1 Samuel 25:25 NKJV).  When Jacob was returning to the Promised Land from Laban, he wrestled with an Angel all night and demanded a blessing before he could let the Angel go. The Angelic blessing included the change of Jacob’s name.  “So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed” (Genesis 32:27-28 NKJV). A name confers identity, describes character, and communicates destiny.

The Igbo has a proverb, which says that one is like the name he bears. Francis Bacon was credited to have popularised the saying, “... there is power in naming things.”  A popular Chinese proverbs holds that “the beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names.” What cannot be identified by a name is deemed not to exist. Hence, when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and commissioned him to go and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, Moses asked for God’s name.  “Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them? And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you” (Exodus 3:13 -14 NKJV).

Human beings do not only name things and people. We name ideas and projects.  Something becomes real the moment you give it a name.  A book takes a clearer shape in your mind the moment you give it a title because naming clarifies your thinking and concretises an idea.  It came to me this morning while in prayer that I should name my year.  Here then is a question for you: if God gives you, the right to name this year and that whatever name you give to it will translate into your actual experience, what would you call it? This is a serious business going by what we have just learnt about the power of names. The name you give the year should capture your greatest expectations of the year.  Here are some of the questions that will help you get a good name for your year. What do you want this year to bring to you?  What would give you the greatest joy and fulfilment if it happens in your life this year?  How would you like to be described by the end of this year? In choosing a name to give the year, look for a word or phrase that paints the clearest picture in your mind of what you desire.

How would you name 2015? The name you give to the year will be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Remember that, “whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name” (Genesis 1:19 KJV). Let the name you give to the year be meaningful to you and let it be the rallying point of your expectation this year. Prayerfully present it to God and make choices this year that have direct bearing to what you named the year.  I commend you to God’s care and leading this year in Jesus Name.