The Choice Every Christian Must Make - Greg Laurie Daily Devotion - June 22, 2016
The Choice Every Christian Must Make
Little children, keep yourselves from idols. - (1 John 5:21)
A story from the pages of church history tells of a courageous Christian who lived in the days of the Roman Empire. Arrested for being a follower of Christ and a preacher of the gospel, the man was brought before the emperor of Rome, who told him to either give up Christ or be banished.
The Christian replied, “You cannot banish me from Christ, for God says, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’ ”
The ruler said, “I will confiscate your property.”
“My treasures are laid up in heaven,” the Christian answered. “You can’t touch them.”
“Then I will kill you.”
“I’ve been dead to the world in Christ for forty years,” the Christian said. “My life is hid with Christ in God. You can’t touch it.”
Turning to other members of his court, the emperor said in disgust, “What can you do with such a fanatic?”
There will come a time in every Christian’s life when he or she is faced with the choice to bow before someone or something. The Bible says, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21). An idol is anyone or anything that takes the place of God in your life. An idol can be a person. It can be a relationship. It can be your car or your house. It can be your career. It can be your physique. An idol is something that is more important to you than God Himself. It is something that you effectively bow before and it causes you to compromise in your faith.
We need Christians today who will make a stand. So often we compromise. We will bend. We will cave in because it isn’t politically correct or popular. But let’s remember that a little with God is better than a lot without Him.
Copyright © 2016 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org
and
Listen to Greg Laurie's daily broadcast on OnePlace.com.
Watch Greg Laurie's weekly television broadcast on LightSource.com.
SPECIAL OFFER
Give biblical truths to the children in your life!
If you want to impart spiritual insight to the kids in your life, you must be intentional about communicating in a way that is understandable, engaging, and creative. Author Sally Lloyd-Jones and illustrator Jago combine beautiful images with scriptural insight in 101 simple-yet-profound devotional thoughts for kids.
Receive the Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing book when you give a gift of support to Harvest Ministries this month.
