The Chronicles of Biscuit - "Choose For Yourself This Day"

The Chronicles of Biscuit - Stories about our youngest son, Tyler, whose nickname is Biscuit.

Tonight our almost-16-year-old daughter, Lauren, invited three friends to Wednesday night Bible class.  We went and got each of the girls before services and allowed them time to visit other high school friends after services.  The teens were all gathered around visiting, just like the adults usually do, when I happened to notice Biscuit sitting on the steps outside and all alone.  He looked sad.

I went over and asked Biscuit what was wrong.  He said he was sad because of Lauren's friends and how that she would be graduating in two years.  What he meant was that with friends around, Lauren wasn't paying any attention to him.

After we dropped off all of the girls, it was just Biscuit, Lauren, and I in the vehicle.  The rest of our family had gone in another vehicle.  Lauren said, "Mom, as I walked with the girls and Biscuit out to the Expedition, he said, 'Lauren, you need to choose between your family or your friends!'"

As we made our way home, Biscuit and Lauren discussed the friend/family dilemna.  Lauren assured Biscuit that her family would always and has always come before her friends.  He kept trying to explain what he meant....which was basically that he was feeling a little bit threatened in his close relationship with his big sister.

In two years Lauren will go to college.  She's got big dreams of going far away.  Biscuit has big dreams of her staying home and going to college online, like he plans to do.  Me?  I'm praying for something a little in-between - not too far, but enough away to give her some space.  It will come too fast, but I know that family will always come before friends....even then.

In Joshua 24, Joshua is speaking to the Israelites. He was telling them just exactly what God wanted him to tell them. 

Verses 14-15:

“Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD! And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of 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.”

The Israelites needed to make a choice.  They needed to either decide to serve God and Him alone, or they needed to serve the (little "g") gods, which were false gods.  Joshua told the people that he would serve only the Lord.

The Israelites vowed that they, too would serve the One true God. 

 And the people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God and obey him." Joshua 24:24

In life we can be close to family and be close to friends - all at the same time.  Family can and should come first in most cases (although being a Christ-like servant, others needs should always be considered), but friends are important.  But in our walk with God, He must come first - before anything else - even our friends and even our family.  Following Jesus has to be our main goal.  It has to be our whole life.  It has to be what we always choose.

Biscuit doesn't understand how Lauren can have close friends and still love her family.  He'll be in shock when one day she finds a young man who wants to marry her!  Biscuit is jealous and he'll have to work through those feelings.

God is a jealous God.  He wants our love for Him to be above anything else.  We must "choose for ourselves this day" just who/what we will serve:  God or other.