As the march of non-Native people spread across the continent, each tribe had to decide how they were going to respond. Some tribes that our On Eagles' Wings team went to one summer used a vivid word picture to capture the choice their people faced. They talked about the two canoes. They said there were two canoes on this river that divided the world of their people from the world of these new people who had come. One canoe was the ways of the Indian people, the other canoe the ways of the white people. And, as the elders would say, you could not have a foot in each canoe. You had to choose your canoe.
Jesus had a lot in common with the Native people of North America. He was a tribal man, He grew up in a village, His country had been taken over by others. While He didn't talk about those two canoes, He said something in Matthew 6:24 about following Him that sounded very much like it:
"No man can serve two masters." Or - have his feet in two different canoes.
You can't claim Jesus as your Lord, the decider of what you do, and have someone or something else that is your deciding factor. Like a man trying to straddle two canoes, you'll be pulled apart. In spite of the impossibility of living for two masters, many who say they belong to Jesus are trying to do just that.
But nobody loves you like He does. Nobody else was butchered on a cross to take your hell. He died so you don't have to serve that other master. 1 Peter 2:24 says, "He bore our sins in His own body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness." When you live the opposite of what He wants, you basically say, "I don't care why You died, Jesus. I want this." You might as well just say, "I want this more than You."
Are you tired of being torn apart inside, trying to live with your feet in two canoes? Choose the One who loves you most. Choose the One you'll be with forever. Choose Jesus.