MAN'S CHOICE

     Man has a choice in serving God. He may choose to serve or he may
choose not to serve. But, if man chooses to serve God, he does not
have the right to choose how that service is to be done. He must do
his service the way God had commanded. Man may choose to worship God
or he may choose not to worship God. But, if man chooses to worship
God, he does not have the right to choose how he is to worship. He
must offer worship that is pleasing to Jehovah, and that can be
determined only by allowing Jehovah to tell man how to worship Him.
     Noah offers us a perfect example of this. God told Noah to build
the ark out of gopher wood. Noah did not have to build the ark. He
could have refused to build the ark and would have been condemned
with the rest of the world. But, if Noah chose to build the ark, he
had no choice as to kind of wood that was to be used. God specified
the kind of wood -- gopher, and that eliminated all other kinds of
wood. Noah had no choice in HOW to obey God. The only choice which he
had was whether or not to obey and build. When Noah determined to do
God's will, he could not decide how it was to be done, either in the
material used or the dimensions given. For the boat to float, it had
to be built according to the divine pattern given to him.
     So, likewise, man has a choice in obeying Jehovah. Man can choose
to obey God, or he can refuse to obey God. But, if man chooses to obey
God, he has no choice as to what commandments are to be obeyed or how
the commandments are to be obeyed. The Lord did not give us the right
to "pick and choose" which commands we want to do, while refusing to
do His other commandments. Serving Jehovah is not like going down the
buffet line and choosing which foods you want, while rejecting the
others.
     Yes, man has a choice in serving God, but if he decides to obey
he has no choice as to what to do or how to do it. He must obey the
things the Lord commands in the way the Lord commands. This principle
can be applied to everything Jehovah expects of us, whether in primary
obedience to the gospel or in the work and worship of the church.
     ----Jack Thompson, preacher for the White Park church of Christ.

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