Choosing God Again: Saying Yes Every Day

Devotional

Day 1: The River of Choices Demands New Yeses

A life of faith flows like a river, twisting through ever-changing landscapes. What once required courage may now demand patience; yesterday’s obedience might become today’s surrender. Joshua’s call to “choose this day” echoes across time because stagnant faith drowns in old currents. Just as cells regenerate and relationships evolve, our yes to God must adapt to new shores. To stop choosing is to drift. The same hands that built altars yesterday must lay new stones tomorrow. [44:41]

“And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
(Joshua 24:15, ESV)

Reflection: Where does your current “yes” to God feel different than it did five years ago? What bend in life’s river requires you to choose anew today?

Day 2: Renewing Vows to the Unchanging Leader

An old man with a walker demands a crowd renew their vows, proving commitment outlives enthusiasm. Joshua at 110 embodies the truth that endings clarify purpose. Serving God isn’t a youthful sprint but a lifelong recalibration. Like wedding vows tested by decades, faith thrives when choices are reaffirmed, not just remembered. Freedom lies not in escaping promises but in claiming them again. [45:28]

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live.”
(Deuteronomy 30:19, ESV)

Reflection: What commitment have you been treating as a one-time decision? How might renewing it today reshape your next step?

Day 3: Love’s Unchanging Sameness Is Constant Choosing

God’s “changelessness” isn’t rigidity but relentless recommitment to love. Like parents choosing a wayward child daily or spouses reigniting devotion, divine faithfulness means choosing anew. Lamentations reveals mercy as a verb—God’s daily decision, not a stored resource. To mirror this love is to act, not reminisce. [53:17]

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
(Lamentations 3:22–23, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you confused nostalgia for active love? What relationship or calling needs your deliberate “today” choice?

Day 4: The Boy Preacher’s Yes Isn’t Enough

A 12-year-old’s fervent sermon fades like childhood cells replaced by adult skin. Shared DNA doesn’t guarantee shared conviction. The man inherits the boy’s story but must rewrite its meaning. Past zeal cannot fuel present obedience. Every yes expires until resurrected by today’s courage. [42:44]

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
(2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV)

Reflection: What version of yourself are you still relying on to speak for you? Where must the “new creation” choose beyond the old?

Day 5: Indecision Fertilizes Evil’s Soil

Wiesel’s warning haunts: evil thrives where choices go unmade. Like untended gardens overrun by weeds, unclaimed commitments breed complacency. Joshua’s people learned freedom’s burden—every day demands alignment. To withhold today’s yes is to feed tomorrow’s regret. [48:42]

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
(Romans 12:2, ESV)

Reflection: What unresolved tension in your life needs decisive action? Where is “testing” your assumptions the next right choice?

Sermon Summary

An early yes to God matters, but it cannot do the choosing for a person decades later. Life brings new relationships, discoveries, regrets, losses, and gains. The child and the older adult share a history, but the present self still has to choose. Saying yes to the love of God is not an act of closure. It is a launching down a river of choices, with another turn always ahead.

Joshua stands at just such a bend in the river. Near the end of a life given to serving God, he calls the people to choose that day whom they will serve. Their earlier commitments do not settle the question forever. Joshua’s demand to choose again is not simply bossiness. It is a testament to human freedom. People once enslaved can now reaffirm their commitments, adjust their course, and begin again. Last year’s choices are not a prison.

That freedom also carries responsibility. Love can die when people stop choosing one another. Faith can fade when its practice stops. Injustice persists when concern never becomes a conscious choice to act. Joshua challenges the people’s ready promises because serving the Lord requires more than a quick answer. It requires choosing again.

Changing circumstances also call for new expressions of the same love. Worship, prayer, reflection, and deepening relationships make room for fresh discernment. God’s faithfulness gives this repeated choosing its deepest ground: divine mercies are new every morning. God’s changelessness is never ceasing to choose love for all. The fitting response is to follow that lead, renewing commitments through service, generosity, and the daily choice to serve the Lord.

Key Takeaways

1. Past Choices Are Not a Prison. Joshua’s call to choose again gives real weight to human freedom. An earlier commitment matters, but it does not remove the possibility or responsibility of making a fresh choice today. People freed from slavery can reaffirm their direction or change course rather than remain trapped by yesterday’s decisions. [46:21]
2. Drifting Is Not Spiritually Neutral. Love, faith, and justice suffer when conscious choosing gives way to drift. A relationship can weaken without anyone deciding to destroy it, just as concern about injustice can remain fruitless without action. Faithfulness requires more than avoiding a deliberate rejection of the good; it requires continuing to choose it. [47:47]
3. The Same Love Requires Fresh Choices. Changing circumstances mean that yesterday’s expression of love may not answer today’s need. Continuing to say yes calls for new discernment, new direction, and new ways of putting love into practice. Worship, daily prayer, and deepening relationships create opportunities for that renewed choice to take shape. [51:26]
4. God Keeps Choosing Love Every Morning. God’s changelessness is held together with the fresh mercies of each new day. Divine faithfulness is not a love that made its choice once and then stopped choosing. God never ceases to choose love for all, and believers are called to follow that lead through renewed commitments of their own. [53:17]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[40:44] - An Early Yes to God
[42:44] - The Past Self and Today’s Choice
[44:27] - A River of Choices
[45:00] - Joshua Calls for a Fresh Commitment
[46:21] - Freedom to Choose Again
[47:47] - The Danger of Drifting
[49:10] - More Than a Quick Promise
[50:47] - New Circumstances, New Expressions of Love
[52:27] - Choosing Through Worship and Daily Practice
[52:52] - God’s Unceasing Choice of Love
[53:51] - Renewing Commitments Through Service and Giving

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Joshua 24:15
“And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” [45:02]

Lamentations 3:22-23
“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” [53:31]

Hebrews 3:15
“As it is said, 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Observation questions

In the account of Joshua’s challenge, how do the people’s earlier commitments contrast with the choice Joshua asks them to make now? [45:40]
What examples show how relationships, faith, and concern for justice can suffer when people stop making conscious choices? [48:05]
What practices help people recognize fresh opportunities to serve God as their circumstances change? [52:23]
How is God’s faithfulness in Lamentations 3:22–23 connected with God’s continuing choice to love? [53:25]

Interpretation questions

How can Joshua’s call in Joshua 24:15 be understood as an invitation to freedom rather than simply a demand for obedience? What responsibility comes with that freedom? [46:18]
Why might Joshua challenge the people’s quick promise to serve God rather than simply accept it? What makes a renewed commitment more than words? [49:17]
How can the same commitment to love require different actions at different stages of a person’s life? How might someone distinguish faithful change from drifting away from a commitment? [50:50]
How does the assurance of fresh mercy in Lamentations 3:22–23 give someone courage to begin again after neglecting faith or making a regretted choice? [53:25]

Application questions

Think of an earlier time when you said yes to God. What has changed in your life since then, and what might renewing that commitment look like now? [44:10]
Where, if anywhere, do you notice yourself drifting rather than choosing intentionally—in your faith, a relationship, or your response to others’ needs? What small step might help you change direction? [47:51]
Is there someone whose changing circumstances call for a new expression of your love? What could you do this week to better understand and respond to what they need now? [51:33]
What injustice or community need has been on your mind without leading to action? What realistic step could you take, perhaps alongside someone in this group? [48:32]
Which practice—worship, prayer, reflection, or deepening a relationship—might help you make room to listen to God in your current circumstances? What would a manageable next step look like? [52:23]
God’s faithful love gives room for a fresh beginning. Is there a regret that makes it difficult for you to begin again, and how might receiving God’s mercy help you take a next step? Share only what you feel comfortable sharing. [53:25]
How might your use of time or money express a renewed commitment to serve God? Is there a particular act of service or generosity you would like to make space for this week? [54:15]

Sermon Clips

39s

#ChooseLove

“what if God's real changelessness is never ever ceasing to choose love and love for all. And if that is true, then our most fitting response is to keep choosing the same as we said with the kids, you know, follow the leader. And perhaps at certain junctures in our lives to make a radical renewal of our vows. Choose this day.”

49s

#SayYesToGod

“All of which is to say, although it matters very much that long ago, I chose to say yes, it doesn't really matter that much now unless my current self chooses to say yes again. To be alive is to face constantly changing situations, challenges, chances to get better or worse. Saying yes to the love of God is not an act of closure. It's more like a launching down a river to see a whole river of choices where you keep saying yes at every turn or not.”

39s

#EmbraceChange

“Is your life the very exact same now as it was, say, five, six years ago? The same in your relationships and your concerns and your circumstances and your challenges, your understandings of yourself or your own personal world? Of course not. All of it keeps changing. So saying yes to love now requires new applications of love, new discernment, new direction, new expressions, new ways.”

Ask a question about this sermon

Trinity Presbyterian Church This sermon · AI assistant

Why did Joshua challenge Israel's promise to serve God?

How can refusing to choose allow evil to flourish?

What if God's changelessness means continually choosing love?