Abe Lincoln told the story of a blacksmith who heated a piece of iron in the forge, not knowing what he was going to make. At first he thought of shaping it into a horseshoe but changed his mind. After hammering on the iron for a while, he decided to try to make it into something else. By this time the metal was no longer malleable. Holding it up with his tongs and looking at it with disgust, the blacksmith tossed it into a vat of water. “Well,” he shrugged, “at least I can make a fizzle out of it!”

Joshua would have seen an important lesson in that story. He knew that a meaningful life must have a clear purpose. “Choose!” he urged his followers. If you’re not going to live for God, then decide against Him. If you are going to live for God, then let your life reflect that decision. But whatever you do, decide! Joshua made it clear that he and his family had made their choice to serve the Lord (24:15). For him, life was not an amusement park but an arena where important decisions had to be made.

What about you? If you don’t choose to trust Christ and serve Him, all you will have to show for the living of your days will be a loud fizzle.

  — Haddon W. Robinson