Joshua 24:15-16
Choosing God
14 “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.”
Matthew 5:48
God is Perfect
48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
1 Peter 1:15-16
Be Holy
15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
Luke 18:19
Only God is Good
19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.
John 16:33
This is a Troubled World
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Matthew 16:21
Jesus Overcomes Death
21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Revelation 21:4 (KJV)
No More Tears and No More Death
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Free will lets us choose God...But it also let's us choose not to believe Him also...Joshua chose God...
Before we came into this world, we lived in our mother's womb...It was a comfortable place where we were taken care of -then after a while, we left that dark world which we lived and grew for nine months and found and moved and lived in a brighter world...
Let us say, that I really do not know or can prove that Jesus ever existed...Suppose I cannot prove to the non-believer that the Twelve Disciples of Jesus ever existed...Let us also suppose, that the non-believer tells me that this is the only world I will ever know...If this is the only world, which is the one that we currently live in -as I read the daily news and current events, I realize that we live in a troubled world (but we know we did live in a different world after we were conceived and before we were born)...This current world is filled with tears, pain, death, murder, sufferings, troubles, and grief...Well, if this is the only world the non-believer believes in then, I think our hopes are little and limited...
Let me suppose, that I long for a world where hope is large...In a world, where there is One that is Perfectly Holy, and who is Morally Good...And all things are of LOVE...Also suppose, we are just the youngest of Christians (at this time in the world's history) and are still learning about our faith and these larger hopes and the eternities...I want to believe in Something and Someone out there after my death...I want to believe in One who has overcame this world and who has overcame death...I want to believe in a Father, who is the Truth and Perfectly Good...I choose a world where there is One who will wipe our tears and where there is no longer death or suffering...I choose to spend my life seeking this One and these things...As for me and my family, I choose the LORD...I want and choose to live as much like Jesus (which is not always the best), the Son of the Good, Holy, and Perfect One -as best I can...I would rather spend much of my life seeking Someone like this than living in this troubled world...