Every day we make decisions – what to wear, what to eat and what to do. There are little decisions and big decisions. Perhaps, for most people, the biggest decisions in life are about relationships, marriage (whether to marry and whom to marry) and work. But these decisions pale into insignificance beside the great decision.
The great decision is how you respond to God. Bernard Levin, perhaps the most influential *Times* columnist of the twentieth century, described his experience of trying to decide about the Christian faith in these terms: ‘People such as me who hover on the edge of the swimming pool, simultaneously longing and fearing to jump…’ All the way through the Bible, the importance of this destiny-defining decision is stressed.
There is a division of destiny between those who are far and those who are near (Psalm 119). There is a division of destiny between those who hear the gospel and respond with faith, and those who do not combine it with faith (Hebrews 4:2). In the book of Joel, there is a division of destiny between those who call on the name of the Lord and those who do not (Joel 2:32). Joel goes on to say, ‘Multitudes, multitudes in the *valley of decision*!
For the day of the Lord is near in the *valley of decision*’
And that’s the memo.
By Nicky Gumbel from the YouVersion App Bible in One Year