Investing in Your Future - Taking a Stand

I have here a puppet. There isn’t anything special about this puppet. He wasn’t my doll growing up or anything like that. The one thing about this particular puppet that separates him from some others is that I have strings to control him. I control the puppet completely.

If I want him to hit someone, I make him do it. If I want him to sit down on someone's lap, I will make him sit down. He has no say in what he does – I am the master. You see, this puppet can do nothing on its own. As I mentioned before, I control it completely. My question is, does anyone or anything control you? If so, who and why?

Today, we are going to talk about taking a stand. More importantly, we are going to talk about taking a stand for Christ. To quote the lesser known, but great country singer Aaron Tippin, “You’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything. You’ve got to be your own man, not a puppet on a string”.

What do you stand for and why?

There is a man in the Bible named Joshua who was the leader of the Israelites who took a stand for something. But, before you read what he said, I need to give you a little background. You are going to pick up where Joshua, leader of the Israelite (God’s chosen people), is getting older in age and he is issuing them a sort of farewell speech.

He has highlighted to all of them all God has done for them – how God them out of Egypt, helped them cross over the Red Sea and into the promised land. Read Joshua 24:14-15

What was said here?

Joshua said a few key things:
The 1st thing he said was Choose today who you will serve – either God or some random other gods

Whoever you choose to serve, serve them wholly. You cannot serve both God and something else. You see, despite all that God had done for the Israelites, they always struggled with worship other gods and idols. No matter what God did, it never seemed good enough.

Why can’t you serve more than one? Remember what Christ said when talking about serving 2 masters? Matthew 6:24 – “No one can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money.”

You cannot serve God and something else. Why? Because, you will be love one and despise the other. Trust me, I have tried it doing 2 jobs before. When I worked at a church part time and Young Life part time, I was constantly being pulled in many different directions. Because of that, I would love one and hate the other. I almost drove me crazy as I tried to figure out my loyalties. Are you trying to serve 2 masters?

In the same way, when we try to serve God and something else, we are constantly torn between the 2 and both suffer.

Joshua was challenging them to pick one and serve that one completely.

The 2nd thing that Joshua said was that no matter who you choose to serve, me and my family will serve the Lord

He took a stand. He said, I don’t care what you choose to do…me and my family, we are standing by God.

Why did he say that? Because he knew all God had done for them. He saw the promises that God had fulfilled. Joshua took a stand for God and others followed it – Read Joshua 24:16-21

They said that they too wanted to follow. When he challenged them more and said that this isn’t a half-butt commitment this is all the way, they stepped up to the challenge.

I had a choice in college. I could have either taken a stand for Christ, who was apart of my life, or be a follower of what wasn’t so good. One of my roommates was the model Christian and spent his time trying to follow Christ with all his heart, mind and strengthen. He encouraged me as well, but I wasn’t able to step up. Instead, I stepped up to the pitchers of beer and clubs in college. Largely because I couldn’t stand up for anything, yet alone Christ. I followed another friend and we drank and drank and drank. Why? Because I was a wuss and other people’s opinion of me was more important than taking a stand and being who God desired me to be. I was the puppet on the string for these guys.

Application

The great thing about God is that He didn’t make you a puppet on a string – you have free will. You are free to acknowledge God as your creator and follow Him or not.

Just as Joshua knew, many of us have seen God work in our lives. We know the truth about God. However, when it really comes down to it, do you take a stand for Christ like Joshua did or do you wuzz out like college boy Pounder did?

Don’t wuss out like me because you’re too afraid of what other people will think. Joshua didn’t care what others thought – he shared who he was and what he was going to do. Because of his boldness and confidence in Christ, others followed it.

Even if you don’t have a relationship with God, you can make a stand for Him. How? By beginning to walk down the road to find out all that God has to offer you. By coming back week after week to hear about Him, to open a Bible and discover for yourselves the promises of God and to surround yourself with godly friends who will help walk down that path with you.

So, I ask, what are you standing for? Right now, I want you to take a piece of paper and write down what you stand for. Who do you stand for?

What will you do this week to make a stand for what you believe? Commit to something and stand by it. I promise you though, if you commit to make a stand for Christ, you won’t be sorry.