The Great Probing

"Choose this day whom you will serve," Joshua 24:15.

Choose. An act of the will. The Free Dictionary defines will as "the mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides upon a course of action; diligent purposefulness; determination." Oswald's words from yesterday: "It is a deliberate calculation, not something into which you drift easily." And today: "It is not an impulse, but a deliberate commitment."

I deliberately, purposefully with fore-thought -- considering the options, counting the costs -- and determination -- not lightly or flippantly but with my face set toward opposition -- choose the God of the Bible and his plan for my life.

"You are not able to serve the Lord," Joshua 24:19.

Even as I choose, the picture of failure is before me. Is this the balance between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility? I decide upon a course of action. I put all my eggs in God's basket. I am not hedging my bets, seeking to serve two masters, but I am a frail and fickle servant.

It is not just my eggs but my whole self that he requires. Then he will make of this frail and fickle servant a child, a friend, a bride. He will set me apart and make me holy.

I give him everything I have -- knowing full well that it is not much. That is my responsibility. And, in his sovereignty, he brings about beauty.