Decisions, decisions....how do we decide? Some things are hard to decide, some are easy. Sometimes you think you have made the best choice and then you have second thoughts. I have officiated at many weddings over the course of my 23 years of being a pastor. I have yet to see a person decide not to get married on their wedding day. Yes, we see that happen in movies. In fact, some movies are about that very idea. "The Runaway Bride" was a movie about a woman who decided not to get married. "In and Out" was another one about a man who decided not to get married. In real life, though, think about how hard it would be not to get married on your wedding day once all the plans have been made, the reception has been paid for, the guests have all gathered. Think about how much courage it would take to not get married when everything has been done to prepare for the wedding and you are about to walk down the aisle and make it happen. One person told me that he married his fiance even though he knew that he was making a terrible mistake, and he did, by evidence that the marriage ended in divorce only 2 1/2 years later.
Decisions, big important ones, need to be carefully thought over and the decision made is one that persons must live with for the rest of their lives. Those decisions affect the rest of your life....the college you will attend, the person you will marry, where you will live, whether or not you will have children, the profession you choose. All are life changing decisions.
Joshua challenged the People called Israel to think carefully before answering the question he put to them in the 24th chapter of Joshua. "Choose this day whom you will serve...will it be Yahweh the God of Israel or will it be the gods of the surrounding area" (paraphrased). Then, the old grizzly commander in chief (he was 110 years old at the time) questioned their sincerity and whether or not they could really fulfill their commitment to serve Yahweh. "You cannot serve Yahweh, because if you make a promise and do not fulfill it, then he will turn around and do you harm rather than good." They believed that God would punish those who went back on their word or promise to God.
The people insisted that they could serve Yahweh alone and not worship the idols of the Ammorites, Canaannites, etc in the land where they lived. Joshua made them give their word and then wrote down their promise in the book of statutes. He also said that nature bore witness to their pledge and set up a rock as a monument to remind them of what they had promised. Then, he sent them out to get to work. Their promise did not last long, though, because the next book of the Bible, Judges, describes how they began to find idols in the land to worship along with their worship of Yahweh.
Making promises is easy...keeping them is much more difficult. Keeping promises to be faithful to a spouse or a church takes work on our part. People make promises but time and obstacles get in the way and they forget the promises they make. Sometimes I blame the church for making it so easy for people to become church members. We ask one simple question, if people will be faithful and support the church they are joining, and then we do not spell out what we mean by being "faithful" or to "support" the church.
Perhaps we should use some of ole Joshua's reasoning. Maybe when they say "Yes" to our question about their faithful participation in the church, I should say, "Are you sure you can do this? Do not promise if you cannot fulfill it?" We are too polite to do such things, though. We just shake their hands and welcome them in and then leave them to their own devices, never expecting much of them but hoping they will attend church and give of their resources to support the church and participate in the activities of the church. Then, years later when we do not see them again, we scratch our heads and say, "What ever happened to them? I hardly see them." Perhaps the old saying is as valuable as scripture, "To whom much is given, much is required." Or to rewrite it, "When little is expected of someone, that is what you get in return."
Perhaps a new commitment is needed now and then as a refresher course in what it means to be a member of a church just as it is often done for marriages, something to refresh our memories as to why this is important and what we said to get into this relationship in the first place. A lot is riding on both of them so putting a little effort into it may bring a good return in our investment.
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