Pick a Side??

   Pick a side! We are constantly encouraged by the media,the establishment, the press, and social media to align ourselves with one side or the other! Left Twix or right Twix? (like there's a difference.) Batman or Superman? NFC or AFC? Iron Man  or Captain America? Pick a side! Bernie or Hillary? OOOPS! Trump or Hillary? Black or white? Gay or straight? Cops or protestors? Werewolves or vampires? Cats or dogs? Gun control or gun rights? Oh, you've got to pick a side! There's no room for neutrality these days.
   So why must we divide over such things? Who benefits? Whether Batman wins, or Superman wins, DC wins. And whether Cap wins or Iron Man wins, Marvel wins. Whether AFC or NFC, the NFL wins. And whether the Yankees or Red Sox win, MLB wins. So, the red pill or the blue one? Like Twix, is it really a choice at all?  Seems like whoever sets up the rivalries is the real winner, doesn't it?
   Now I'm not saying you can't or shouldn't have favorites; that's just human nature. But more and more, we're being urged to draw a line in the sand and choose one side or the other. They all talk about unity, but sell polarization.
   Well, throughout the ages, God also demands man to pick a side. Moses challenged his people, "I call Heaven and earth to record  this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live."  Deuteronomy 30:19. Also before his death, Joshua enjoined the Israelites, "...choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers servedt hat 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." Joshua 24:15.
   Jump ahead to the days of the divided kingdom, as Elijah confronts the false prophets of Jezebel, he reminds the people it's time to pick a side: "How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him." 1 Kings 18:21.
Christ Himself insisted there is no middle ground between the love of money and the love of God, saying, "No man can have 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." Matthew 6:24
   The Apostle Paul put it in black & white when he wrote to the Church at Corinth, "But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God; and I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?Are we stronger than he?"  1 Corinthians 10:20-22
   Bob Dylan echoed, " you're gonna have to serve someone. It may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you're gonna hafta serve someone." Why must we choose? Because by not choosing, you've already chosen. There is a default. If you don't deliberately choose God, you implicitly choose the devil. We're already on the Highway to Hell, and that's where we'll stay unless we choose to take the next exit!
   I mean, do you have to teach a child to lie, or to tell the truth? He'll lie all on his own! Do you have to teach him to bite other kids and pull their hair, or must you teach him not to? He can do bad all by himself! Need you teach him to hoard his toys or to share them?  Must you teach him to steal, or to respect others' property? Sin is in our DNA!
   Some will say, "I don't want God or the Devil". Nice try.  But Christ declared, "He that is not  with Me is against Me."  Those are your choices. Concerning Jesus Christ, the Gospel of John says, "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him,  to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name."
   There is the kingdom of darkness, and the kingdom of light. Pick a side.