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Every time we choose to obey God even when we have to deny ourselves in order to do it, it brings us closer to God. At the same time, every time we choose to follow our own ways even when we know it is displeasing to God, we harden our hearts. It is likely we have all hardened our hearts sometimes, even though we were not aware that this was what we were doing. It is even possible that we have lost out on some great plan that God had for us personally through our foolish choices, which we will realise when we stand before Him on the final day.

God tests the ones He chooses. We usually don't recognise we are being tested until it is over, and then it is too late to change if we have already chosen foolishly. When Abraham was asked to sacrifice his beloved son, he didn't know what hinged on his choice (Ge.22:16-18). Did Daniel know all the implications for the future when he decided not to defile himself with the king's food (Da.1:8,9)? Unlikely. So it may be that when we come to some crossroads in our life and make a choice we may not realise what all depend on it.

Have you had a time when you realised that a doctrine you believed in was wrong? You may have defined yourself with this doctrine and you may have even preached it, and now you realise you were mistaken. You immediately start to think of all the repercussions if you were to admit that you were wrong, and you choose to stick on to the old doctrine even though you know it is wrong! You know the doctrine is wrong, but you realise it is not practical or convenient for you to admit your mistake!

Imagine Saul went to Damascus after he received a revelation of Jesus and he was thinking of the new revelation of the truth that was completely opposed to everything he had believed until then. He would have thought of how he would face his teachers and the Council that had given him authority to persecute the Christians. He could have escaped all the confusion and opposition from the Jews if he had pretended nothing had happened on the road to Damascus. But then he would not have become the great apostle Paul that we know of now.

When God gives us the grace by revealing the truth to us, He expects us to respond to it honestly and sincerely. In that sense we really don't even have any option but to follow Him with the new truth we have understood. But history, perhaps including our own history, is full of Christians who choose to please themselves or people instead of God (Php.2:21). In this way we show that we don't really love the truth but only ourselves. If so we miss all the good things God had planned for us and stand exposed to the possibility of deception (2Th.2:10-12). Then we find many people creating arguments against the truth and even writing books about it.

Stand before God and see if conscience brings up incidents from our life where we have compromised on truth. Now is the time to repent and look for a second chance like Jonah before it's late.