Don't Straddle the Fence

Don’t Straddle The Fence

Have you ever been “on the fence” about a certain situation in your life? You just could not decide one way or the other about a certain situation in you life?   You could not figure out what to do? What or Who to choose? Where to go?

When it comes to deciding whether or not to accept Jesus and to commit to HIM fully is a decision we all need to make in our lives.  You need to make this decision in order to have eternal life. Being indecisive about this, being “on the fence” is not what the Lord wants from us.

Revelations: 3:16 (NIV)  So, because you are lukewarm- neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

This means Jesus doesn't want us to be indecisive when it comes to serving him fully and completely. Who wants lukewarm food?  Most people like hot food hot, and cold food cold.

Jesus wants us to be all in for him or nothing He is an “all or nothing” type of God. 

Joshua 24: 15  (NIV) says, “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve..But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord”

1 Kings 18: 21 (NIV)  Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him: but if Baal is God, follow him.”

Luke 9:23 (NIV) Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

Following Jesus is not something we can do passively. It requires us to make a clear and decisive commitment to him.  Being a disciple for Christ, means we need to make a decision to follow him fully and completely.  Jesus does not expect us to be perfect people. Perfect Christians. When we come to him, we come to him as we are, full of sins. But once we accept him as our savior and Lord, then we need to make a conscious decision to follow him fully.

Being indecisive about devoting our lives fully to him is not what he wants for us!  The Lord wants devotion from us.  He wants us to follow him and his commandments. 

Matthew 16: 24-25 (NIV) Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” 

Matthew 6:24 (NIV)  No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

James 1: 6-8 (NIV) 

But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Such a person  is  double-minded and unstable in all they do. 

On a personal note, I too was once “straddling the fence” when it came to following the Lord fully and making a conscious decision to change my life and live fully for the Lord.  Yes, I would go to church occasionally, pray occasionally, but I realized that I have to commit my life fully to the Lord, and his work.  What is “his work”? You ask.   “HIS work”, is to help guide others to Christ. It is to tell others about salvation and living for the Lord daily. 

Make a decision, Get off the fence” Follow the Lord whole-heartedly and get “off the fence”. When it comes to serving the Lord.  And, once you make that decision, don't go back and forth to sin and sinful ways. Commit fully and remain committed, that is the second part of following Jesus. 

By Ella Shines Goldsmith, June 17, 2025