What To Do - At The Crossroads

Isaiah 45:22New International Version (NIV)

22 “Turn to me and be saved,

all you ends of the earth;

for I am God, and there is no other.

Sometimes we, in life, have to make choices.

We do it all the time. This morning you made a choice to come and worship the Lord – Good choice! The scriptures say remember the sabbath and keep it holy. You may have chosen something different this morning but you couldn’t do both things at the same time.

The Zode in the Road

Did I ever tell you about the young Zode,

Who came to two signs at the fork in the road?

One said to Place One, and the other, Place Two.

So the Zode had to make up his mind what to do.

Well…the Zode scratched his head, and his chin and his pants.

And he said to himself, “I’ll be taking a chance

If I go to Place One. Now, that place may be hot!

And so, how do I know if I’ll like it or not?

On the other hand though, I’ll be sort of a fool

If I go to Place Two and find it too cool.

In that case I may catch a chill and turn blue!

So, maybe Place One is the best, not Place Two,

But then again, what if Place One is too high?

I may catch a terrible earache and die!

So Place Two may be best! On the other hand though…

What might happen to me if Place Two is too low?

I might get some very strange pain in my toe!

So Place One may be best,” and he started to go.

Then he stopped, and he said, “On the other hand

though….

On the other hand…other hand…other hand though…”

And for 36 hours and a half that poor Zode

Made starts and made stops at the fork in the road.

Saying, “Don’t take a chance. No! You may not be

right.”

Then he got an idea that was wonderfully bright!

“Play safe!” cried the Zode. “I’ll play safe. I’m no dunce!

I’ll simply start out for both places at once!”

And that’s how the Zode who would not take a chance

Got no place at all with a split in his pants.

Have you ever had trouble making a decision?

I have!

But if the decision is important enough… I eventually I make a choice.

In the Bible, God is constantly encouraging His people to make a decision

If you drive almost anywhere in New Zealand you have to make decisions all along the way. Crossroads or t junctions come up and we have to decide. The Christian life is like this and I think one of the great mistakes we make in Christianity is that we seem to think that we only have to make one decision.

That decision of course audits and dialogues with all the other decisions that we have to make. As Joshua says In Joshua 24:15 Joshua challenged the Israelites to“… choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

Every person comes across the opportunity to decide for Christ or against him.

That decision can sometimes be decided on the most trivial data.

Some common reasons that people give for not following Christ are just weird.

Like -there are too many religions in the world – or everyone in the church is a hypocrite or– Some felt that religious wars years agoconsisted of mad crusaders mistakedly charging across history in the name of Jesus were the cause for their disbelief - Someone else told me that they had done enough for the church because they had baked for a church fair or the person who had been let down by a Christian – or the one who told me he was too busy for God or the one who left Christ for an affair or the one who was hunting down more wealth instead of God. All of these people had replaced God’s revelation with two things their own opinion and feelings.

All of them like the Zoad had come to a crossroad and gone in their own direction. Or they are still at the crossroads with a split in their pants!

But our scripture this morning offers us clear direction about what to do at every crossroad

And Christians come to crossroads all the time.

Isaiah 45:22New International Version (NIV)

22 “Turn to me and be saved,

all you ends of the earth;

for I am God, and there is no other.

This morning I would like to consider this passage and extract from it three things that will help you at the crossroads of life.

When you set out on a journey to anywhere your destination is very important. If you are journeying to the centre of death valley in the USA the chances are you will be very disappointed when you get there. Death Valley, the 3,000-square-mile sprawl of sand dunes and arid mountains along California’s southeastern border, is the hottest, driest place in North America.. Few venture into the valley during the summer, when the sun is at its most brutal.