Choose a Side

Verse of the day: Exodus 32:26 then Moses stood in the entrance of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on the LORD’s side—come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.

Moses, in confronting the people about their sin, since Aaron did not restrain them (v. 25), put them in a position to show where there allegiance was. He called on them to publicly choose whether, or not, they would stand with the Lord, because their sin was open and public. There are moments when sin must be dealt with publicly before the congregation (Matthew 18), and moments when we must deal with sin privately, and in love (1 Peter 4:8; Galatians 6:1-3). Nonetheless, that is a subject for another time. Today, I would like us to focus on the fact that Moses is calling the people to choose what side they are on; or in other words, giving them an opportunity to repent and come back into fellowship and obedience to the LORD. We, as God’s children, choose every day who we will walk with. We choose with whom we will fellowship with by what we choose to say and do. We might claim to be followers of Jesus, but if we are behaving in such a way to bring shame to Him, then we are not truly following Him. There are far too many born again believers that are trying to walk that fine line, and walking with one foot in Christianity, and one in the world. James 4:4 reads, “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” We cannot compromise who we are as Christians, and then claim that we are walking with Christ. If we are going to choose Jesus, we must be truly willing to choose serving God. Joshua made it clear where he stood when he stated, in Joshua 24:15, “And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” As followers of Jesus, we are called to take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23). This means denying ourselves, and our worldly desires daily. By Moses’ challenge to the Israelites, he made it clear that he was not looking for people to align themselves with him, his opinions, or what he deemed to be right, holy, and proper. He was only interested in calling them out for their lack of allegiance to the LORD, and calling them to surrender themselves to Him. We must be careful, that we not call others to align themselves to our opinions, convictions, or what we think is right. If we are going to bring someone back into fellowship with the Lord, when he/she has stumbled, it must be done on the basis of God’s Word. So it must be for us when we are living our daily lives. The things we say and do in making our daily decisions must be in accordance with God’s truth, not our own opinions, convictions, and preferences, as those differ and do not always truly reflect the truth found in Scripture. The consequences, and price, for those who chose to stand against God were great. They paid with their lives (v. 28). For those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, the choice to stand against God will end in eternal condemnation in Hell and the Lake of Fire (Romans 6:23). Revelation 20:13-15 clearly says, “The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” For us, the born again believer, to stand in opposition to God puts us in a position to not only lose heavenly reward, but to be disciplined by the Lord in order to be brought back into fellowship and righteous, holy, living (Hebrews 12:3-11). I close with these words, “Whoever is on the Lord’s side, come to Him, and prove it by the way you live, for His glory.”

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).