Matthew 6:24 tells us: "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." 

Who will YOU serve today? No matter how long you have been saved, no matter how greatly God is using your life, the fact is that we each wake up in the morning and face the choice of who we will serve that day. We choose to serve the enemy or we choose to serve God.

Teens especially are pulled in different directions as they try to fit in as a student with their peers and at other times they may be in a church service trying to fit in there. They truly feel like they are being pulled in many different directions. At times they may even feel like there are several people inside of them all trying to get out.           

Let's look at the life of Samson. His life is very applicable for this message about the choices that you will make each and every day regarding exactly WHO you will serve.

Samson was miraculously born to a mother who was unable to conceive a child. He was dedicated to God's service, even before he was conceived. Samson was dedicated to the Lord's service, grew up being taught all about God, and the Bible says that the "Spirit of God" was upon his life.

One of the points that I want to stress today is that here was a man, dedicated to God even before he was conceived, raised in the "church" of his day, and had a heart so close to God that the Bible even says God's Spirit was upon him. DESPITE THIS, SAMSON, JUST LIKE YOU AND I, WOKE UP EVERY MORNING AND HAD TO MAKE CHOICES THROUGHOUT THE DAY WHO HE WOULD SERVE!

The Bible says that the devil comes to kill, steal, and destroy. If you have accepted Christ into your heart by faith, the Bible says that you are saved (John 3:16, Romans 10:10, Ephesians 2:8-9). 

However, even though the devil can't have your eternal soul, he can destroy your life, steal the joy, peace, and abundance Jesus promised those who followed Him would know during our brief journey here, and kill us literally.

Over the years I have known many great men and women of God who allowed sin in their life to consume them to the point of death. One dear brother got into the bondage of drug addiction and died from an overdose. One sister looked to alcohol instead of the Lord in times of trouble and alcohol eventually destroyed her liver and she died much earlier than he should have. While another sister who did many great things for God allowed the enemy to throw her into a state of depression to the point that she took her own life.

SATAN IS NOT THE CLASS CLOWN, A CARTOON CHARACTER, SOME MISCHIEVOUS PARTY ANIMAL THAT LOVES TO HAVE FUN. SATAN IS A VERY REAL ENEMY WHO PLAYS FOR KEEPS AND IS OUT TO DESTROY THE LIFE OF THE CHILD OF GOD, STEAL ALL OF THE GOOD THINGS THAT THIS LIFE CAN OFFER, AND LITERALLY HELP YOU MAKE CHOICES THAT WILL KILL YOU! HE IS NOT PLAYING GAMES!

As you read through the life of Samson, he chose to turn from God over and over. Samson knew how God felt about being unequally yoked with nonbelievers. Samson knew God's plan for marriage. Samson knew God forbids sex outside of marriage. Yet Samson's weakness was women, women who did not know or honor the God of Israel. The enemy is persistent. He will tempt the child of God over and over and over until he finds the weakness in their life.

Samson's weakness was women. Each day, just like you and me, Samson had to choose who he would serve that day. As much as the anointing of God was on his life, even though he served God in miraculous ways, even though God used him to bless many, IT WAS SAMSON WHO HAD TO MAKE THE CHOICE EACH DAY WHO HE WOULD SERVE. Over and over, Samson chose sin over God. Over and over, God showed his love and grace to Samson and gave him chances to straighten his life out. But Samson took God's grace and mercy for granted, refused to turn from his sin, and it was his sin that ultimately destroyed his life, stole all of the blessings God had for him, and in the end, killed him.

Let me encourage you today. If you have chosen to serve sin, have allowed things to enter into your life that God does not approve of, TODAY is the day that you can stop. Is it that easy? NO WAY! It will be the hardest thing that you have ever done. But if you take the first step, God will strengthen you and help you to turn away from sin, and back to Him. THE CHOICE THAT YOU MAKE TODAY COULD LITERALLY SAVE YOUR LIFE! BUT IT IS A CHOICE THAT YOU MUST MAKE, NOBODY CAN MAKE IT FOR YOU.

God loves you and cares for you. Each day, He gives you the choice to love Him and serve Him. Even those who have loved Him and served Him for many years, STILL, each day must make that choice. Learn from Samson's life, and choose God. When you choose sin, you will always pay a price much higher than you ever expected, and your sin will steal your joy and peace, destroy your life, and in the end kill you like it did Samson!

God loves us SO MUCH, that He sent His Word to encourage us and guide us along our journey here. How He shows us to live our life is not to keep us from enjoying our life, but to know the peace, joy, and abundance that this life can offer.

God loves us enough to give us the free will to choose each day whether we will serve Him or not. That is a choice that each of us will make today. It is a choice that YOU will make today. My prayer for you is that you will choose to serve God!

Remember Joshua said in Joshua 24:15 "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that [were] on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."