LEAD. February 2021 | Page 10

will hate the one and love the other , or he will be devoted to one and despise the other . You cannot serve God and wealth .” For personal application , you can substitute wealth in there for whatever it is that trumps God ’ s rule in your life and draws you from an intimate relationship with Him . For example :
You cannot serve God and popular opinion .
You cannot serve God and people-pleasing .
You cannot serve God and dishonesty .
You cannot serve God and immorality .
You cannot serve God and pride .
You cannot serve God and secularism .
You cannot serve God and bitterness .
You cannot serve God and yourself .
You have to choose . What ’ s more : You get to choose . And with those choices come consequences : Blessings or curses . Essentially , you get to choose if you experience blessings or curses .
When you think about it , that is a really good thing . God has given us the opportunity to choose whether we want to experience blessings or curses – favor or futility . It ’ s up to us . It ’ s up to you . You get to choose .
Moses described this choice as one between choosing “ life and prosperity ” or choosing “ death and adversity ” ( Deuteronomy 30:15 ). Keep in mind that biblical terms for life and death aren ’ t always tied to physical life and death . There would be no one left on earth to read this book if each of us were to die physically whenever we rebelled against God . Nor would
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