Recently I was reminded how choosing God and his ways must be an active, consistent, daily, even hourly choice in our lives. Here’s How to choose God daily.
We make a multitude of choices daily from how often we hit that snooze button, what we will eat, what to wear, how to respond when our children disobey, etc. We often don’t even think about many of the choices we make. They come naturally, it’s second nature.
Sometimes the choices we make “just happen” we choose to respond in anger because we were following our emotions. We choose to hit the snooze button because we didn’t sleep well last night. Sometimes we choose to ignore God and His word because we just don’t have time. Usually, we give little thought to this or many other choices in our day.
As I was reading through Psalm 16 the other day, I was reminded of how many choices we make constantly. More importantly, how choosing God and His ways must be a consistent part of our day. Even if we have to make that choice hourly.
David’s active choice of God is written throughout Psalm 16.
Let’s dive in.
In verse 2, David says to God, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.” David recognizes God’s hand in his life. He goes so far as to say there is nothing good in his life that is not due to God’s love and faithfulness. David knew he didn’t earn what he had. His victories (whether over wild animals tending to sheep, or over enemies leading God’s people) all came from God. He could not claim anything from his own power, wisdom, or decision.
I think David understood that though following God was not and is not always easy. It’s worth it and there is nothing better we can turn to. There is no good thing on this earth – let alone in our lives – apart from God. This verse reminds me of Peter’s own confession:
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (ESV)
John 6:68, ESV
Peter’s Confession
Peter’s confession comes after Jesus gave a hard teaching and many of those who were following Jesus turned away and stopped following Him. Jesus’ words were hard for them to swallow. To many, it didn’t make sense. To others, it just seemed downright crazy. But to Peter, who had experienced that Jesus was the Son of God? He made the active choice to continue following Jesus.
Though it was hard, though, at times, I’m sure following Jesus didn’t always make sense to Peter, he knew who Jesus was and knew there was no other option than to follow Him. Jesus had life. Jesus had goodness. Jesus was better than anything or anyone else in the world that Peter could turn to.
What about you?
Have you experienced the real Jesus? Have you seen His goodness? Are you able to say that there is nothing good aside from Him, that there is nowhere else to turn besides Him?
David and Peter were active participants in what God was doing because they made an active choice to follow Him. They chose to turn to His way and His goodness even when it was hard. They chose Him even when it did not make sense.
But wait, there’s more!
David goes on writing. He brings up his choice for God again in verse 5 where he calls God his “chosen portion.” David comes right out and says it: I have chosen God over anything else.
When I was a child, my sisters and I would take turns choosing our portion of whatever dessert was offered. Whoever’s turn it was to pick first was obviously in search of the best, biggest, and sweetest piece. We knew our mom did her best to make each serving even. however, we were determined to find the place that had one more crumb of cake or one more drip of ice cream.
As humans, we’re often always after the best that life has to offer whether it’s in our food, our housing, our job, or our income. We are often looking for something better than all the rest.
We already know that David considered God the best that life had to offer – the only source of anything good in his life. This decision to choose God as his portion may have even come naturally for him given what he already confessed in verse 2. The more we experience God’s goodness and faithfulness in our lives, the easier it becomes to choose Him. The problem is this: though we should recognize his goodness in our lives, so often we see it as our own triumph or our own strength.
Who brings your victory?
When Joshua had led the people of Israel into the promised land, he called them together and reminded them of all God had done along their journey there (Joshua 24). He reminded them of the victories He had won for them. When it came to those victories, the Israelites had brought nothing to the table to win on their own strength or wisdom.
After this reminder of God’s goodness and faithfulness, Joshua encouraged the Israelites to fear God and choose to serve Him. He told them to get rid of any false gods they had collected or chosen to serve in place of the one who had been working on their behalf. This was strategic – He had just reminded the Israelites of all that God did for them and how these idols had done nothing.
Then Joshua challenges them saying, “Choose this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15) Will you serve the God that gave you victory, or will you serve the gods of the nations you had victory over? The choice is yours, but you can’t serve both.
Who will you serve?
Jesus even echoes this in Matthew when He says,
“no one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
MAtthew 6:34, ESV
The words of Jesus tend to hit home a little more than Joshua’s. For many of us today we so easily become more focused on money and lifestyle than on God our provider. I know I’ve worried over what is our income. I’ve been a little too concerned with our comfort in our home. I’ve longed for more. I’ve struggled with the balance between preparedness and relying on God.
When Joshua told the nation of Israel to choose whom they would serve (God their victorious provider, or idols that brought them nothing) he also made the declaration of his choice:
“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:17b (ESV)
Our choice affects others
Our choice of whom or what to serve affects more than ourselves. Our choice affects our spouses and our children. When we make the choice to follow the money, culture, or anything else over God we lead our entire family in that direction. But when we choose God as our portion – the best there is, we lead our entire family to him to see and taste his goodness for themselves.
Is God in your sight?
In Psalm 16:8 David goes on to say, “I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken” (ESV). Yet again we see the active choice to set God in front of us – to put him in our direct sight. The writer of Hebrews puts it this way:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”
Hebrews 12:1-2a (NIV, emphasis mine)
Fixing our eyes on Jesus or setting Him before us is not something that just happens. It is a choice we have to make to take our eyes off the world and focus them on Christ.
When I was learning how to drive I remember being taught to look where you want to go. We go in the direction we are looking. Have you ever been distracted by something on the side of the road while you are driving? If you start focusing on it you’ll probably start drifting in that direction which can be very dangerous. This happens in our daily living too. We go in the direction of our focus. And our family goes in the direction we lead them. All the more reason to make sure our eyes are fixed on Jesus.
Even in the storms of life.
I’m reminded of the story of Peter in the storm found in Matthew 14. The disciples saw Jesus walking on the water and Peter, being bold like he was, told Jesus if it was really Him to call him out onto the water. Peter had faith that He would not sink. The Bible tells us that he walked on water to where Jesus was. In the middle of a raging storm no less! But when Peter reached Jesus, he looked away. He saw the storm and he lost focus on the savior who was standing right in front of him.
At that moment Peter placed more faith in the storm than in the savior. The result? Peter began to sink in the storm. We must make the everyday, active choice to put our eyes on Jesus. To fix our eyes on Him. We must put him before us because life can be crazy and storms will arise. If we do not fix our eyes on the savior in front of us we will have more faith in the storms than in the God who is before us holding out his hand.
The Final Question:
So, who or what will you serve? Where will your focus be? As parents, our choices are the steppingstones to our children’s choices. What we focus on is the direction we will lead our families. The faith we have will be the starting point of our children’s faith.
We can lead our family towards God. We can lean into Him regardless of what storms may come. Or we can focus on this world (the hardships, our possessions, our opinions, etc.). But if we choose the latter we may find ourselves placing more faith in the storms of life than the one who is holding out his hand.
I don’t know about you, but I want to be holding the hand of the God who made the storms. His hand is immovable and unshakable. I want to choose the only one who is powerful enough to bring me through the trials of life. I want to seek the one who can calm the seas of my own raging heart.
How do we choose God daily?
- make a choice. When you wake up tell yourself the choice you made.
- Get into God’s word regularly, even when it’s hard. You dont have to read multiple chapters, but you need His word. Check out my free Bible reading plans for a great place to start.
- Memorize scripture (start with Hebrews 11, one verse at a time)
- Fellowship with other believers who can and will encourage you to choose God.
what other tips do you have for choosing God daily? leave them below so we can encourage each other to follow Christ daily!
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