Footprints in the fresh, new snow

We've mentioned several times that snow is referenced many times in Bible. I guess by now some of you are rolling your eyes and thinking (or saying) "When is she going to get off this snow kick?" (Grin)

Well, I'm really excited that the Spirit has given me more to tell you!

After all, snow is a great jumping off for a winter Bible study, right? Many of us look out our windows and see a lot of the white stuff!

We may not be as crazy about snow as we were when we were younger . . . all kids seem to love snow! Remember how we looked forward to it when we were children? I guess the main thing we looked forward to was getting out of school! But there were snow angels to make, snow forts to build, snowball fights to carry out, and sledding, too.  I can remember bundling our kiddos up and going out in the snow when we'd have a storm here in the southland. I even recall once when our college-age kids were home and we all went out for an epic snow battle and snowman-making extravaganza! Good memories!

It was always fun to get up the next morning and if the snow had continued through the night, all of our battleground would have been recovered with the blanket of white. The pastures stretched out around the house beckoning to us to come and make some footprints in the newly fallen crystals.

I'm looking at 2019 in much the same way. Each new year of our lives is like that field of fresh, new snow. We are poised at the edge, and we are stepping out into it. The Spirit gave me some thoughts that I'd like to share with you all.

On that sparkling morning, we would have to decide where to go in the snow. Which way? Would we walk to the creek, and see what it looked like, with the pine boughs straining under their load of white? Would we go straight across the pastures and up the mountain, to see far across the valley? Wherever we went, we'd leave footprints behind us. It was up to us which direction to go....

As we begin this year, it is us who will decide the course we'll take. We will answer for the decisions that we make.

I've enjoyed studying the life of Joshua several times over the years. Joshua was not all that well known in the first part of his life. Why? He was in a great man's shadow. He spent the first portion of his life in slavery in Egypt, and then Moses made him his assistant. Joshua divided his time between being a military leader and being mentored by Moses. He was Moses' "right-hand-man." It was only Joshua who accompanied Moses on his visit to Mount Sinai, and it was Joshua who stayed in the tent of meeting during the time in the wilderness.

Another part of Joshua's story is that he was one of the twelve spies sent to scout the land of Canaan, and only he and Caleb brought back positive reports. Finally, after forty years of mentoring in the wilderness, Moses appointed Joshua to lead the Israelites, and he led them into the Promised Land. Later, he divided up the land for the tribes, as well.

Following some intense battles in the Promised Land, Joshua made the children of Israel understand that they had a choice to make. All the years that they spent in Egypt, they'd been surrounded by idolatry. Some had fallen prey to the practices, as they showed when they made the golden calf idol and cavorted around it.

As they started to enter the region of the Amorites, Joshua was wary. He knew that they might be enticed into idolizing the gods of the Amorites. It was of the utmost importance that they choose the road they would travel -- after all, decisions have consequences! Here is what Joshua told them:

“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. ¹⁵ But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15)

As we begin 2019, we have a similar choice to make; we will need to decide whether we will serve God or the gods of this world. I guess some will protest; they'll be saying to themselves, "Well, of course I choose to serve God! How could she ask such a thing?"

Well, what are the gods of this world?

There's materialism, immorality, selfishness, covetousness, self-centeredness, pride, and more. Even a step down one of those slippery slopes can lead us right into sin.

Our ultimate choice is between the will of God and our own will. Sometimes that is a tough one! And whatever our choice, we will see consequences in our lives, and be accountable for it later.

Paul told us:

Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,(Hebrews 9:27)

And in Romans:

It is written:

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
    every tongue will acknowledge God.’”  So, then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. (Romans 14:12)

If we've been saved, the choice needs to be made every day. A re-commitment to serve God, or the world, or our peers, or money...…are there "gods" in our lives that we need to forsake? It was an eye-opener for me years ago when I realized that anything I allowed to get between me and Christ, or put a higher priority on than Him, was an idol. Just as surely as if I'd constructed something with my hands and bowed down to it.

Joshua's words are important to us today. We must choose today. Which will it be? The God of heaven? Something or someone else?

Which will it be for us in this new year?