This article forms part of the Choosing Each Day reading plan series.

Devotional

It might be a good idea to write Joshua 24:15 or a similar passage on a 3×5 card and place it next to your bed or on your bathroom mirror so you can be reminded first thing in the morning to choose God. You can even paste the verse in a reminder in your calendar or schedule it as an alarm in your phone.

Seeing Scriptures such as these first thing in the morning or throughout the day can help you immediately see and think truth and be able to focus on it instead of the temporary things of your upcoming day.

We need God’s grace, and we want to be reminded that we can choose to set out mind on God or we can choose to set our mind on self. If we awaken and allow our thoughts to be consumed by self or with our circumstances, what will we fell in the end?

Discouraged! By contrast, if we choose to pray and seek the Lord instead, there can be peace, hope and renewal.

Remember, you can choose each day home you will serve. And though it will take a moment-by-monet reorienting of your mind throughout the day, this choice begins first thing in the morning. So as you enter into this daily choice, trust in the One who created the day and you. He will provide the grace you need to make each new day His.

Take a moment now to pray and seek the Lord. Ask Him to help you choose Him first each day and moment-by-ment throughout the day. Write out Joshua 24:15 or copy/paste it as a reminder into your calendar. May God be your all in all!

 

Reflection

The concept of posting up verses is a familiar concept to me. For many years, I have had a list of verses all associated with my identity in Christ printed, laminated and fixed to my wardrobe door. These verses have been a constant and first day reminder to me of who I am in Christ, and His sovereignty over my life. In many ways, those verses complement well this latest drive and suggestion from the devotional to have Joshua 24:15 added to it.

I think there is a difference and the sentiment is clearly a commendable one – to have Joshua 24:15 explicitly printed out as a reminder to choose God over self/selfish desires. Personally, I will spend a little extra effort to not simply type out the verse, but I will create a nice design to be added to my Threadless store – then I can not only have a poster created and printed out as a daily reminder in my room, but potentially, I can have a whole theme of products to remind me throughout the day:

• a bath towel
• a mug for drinking – either at home or in the office
• notebook – for during work
• a canvas print – for hanging up strategically at home or in the office
• etc…

In this way, this series has a nice outcome to it, and alignment between my sites.

Passage

There are two passages for this concluding devotional – Joshua 24:15 and Lamentations 3:22-24. Since the first verse is really the main theme and has been included in Day #1, the focus here will be on the latter passage.

The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in Him!”

God’s love whilst indescribable, can be understood as unending. God’s love for each of us drives his merciful nature and indeed His grace is sufficient for me. When reflecting on this short passage I cannot avoid the hymn Great Is Thy Faithfulness, which these verses are so obviously the inspiration for. Here are the lyrics, reproduced:

Verse 1
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee,
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not,
As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.

Chorus
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Verse 2
Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above;
Join with all nature in manifold witness,
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.

Verse 3
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside.

The final part of Lamentations fills us with hope. Since we inherit the blessings of God’s grace and faithfulness unto us, hope can spring forth in abundance. Let us place our trust and hope, not in things or people, but in the One who truly deserves it – Christ our Lord and Saviour. He is the only one who we should place our hope in. And since Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith, the rock on which we build our faith, how can we not choose Him daily.