Thought for Today
Joshua 24:15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
Ezekiel 44:13 They shall not come near to me, to serve me as priest, nor come near any of my sacred offerings, the things that are most sacred; but they shall bear their shame, and the consequences of the abominations that they have committed.
John 15:16 You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.
Acts 15:7 After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, "My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers.
Every morning, as I prepare to face the day, I am confronted by a plaque on my dresser showing those final words of the verse from Joshua above, “as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” As I read those words this morning, I remembered Joshua’s challenge earlier in the verse, “choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living.”
We face a similar challenge each day. We are called to choose. We must choose who or what we will serve each day. Disciples of various sciences argue about what most sets humans apart from all other species. Some argue for our tool-making abilities. Others argue for our physiology, especially our opposed thumbs which allow us to grasp items. Still others argue for some aspect of our brains.
I believe the single most radical thing separating us from all other life forms is our ability to make choices based on some evaluation of alternatives. All flora and fauna are faced with options and opportunities. All flora and fauna except humans are more guided by instinct than by conscious consideration. Long ago, Joshua recognized the most important choice we all must make.
I am not a poet. Engineers are not generally disposed to reading poetry. All of those disclaimers aside, I am always moved by Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken. If you are not familiar with that poem, ‘google’ it. That poem confronts one of the great theological truths about choosing and the choices we are called to make, It ends with, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.”
We are apt to forget some of the lessons we learn from scripture. How often, as we are faced with making decisions, do we remember that all choices we make have consequences. Some consequences are transient; some consequences are eternal. Our choice each day about whom we will serve can have both transient and eternal consequences.
If you choose to set aside some time each day for meditation or a devotional, there are consequences. If you are reading these words, you are most probably included in the aegis of Jesus’ words to his disciples of their (and your) being chosen by Jesus. You have been “appointed . . . to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.” Those disciples (and you) still have to choose. We must all choose whether or not to accept that appointment.
As to why God granted us free will, why we are free to choose rather than being led by pure instinct, only God can answer. Some days, I find my own free will challenging. Choosing can be hard work. Choosing may necessitate that I ‘swim upstream’ against the currents of the society in which I live. Each choice I make can have transient and/or eternal consequences. Still, I am called to choose. Jesus said, "Luke 10:27 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself." I can choose to answer “NO!” I choose to answer “YES!”
Choose your road in the woods, choose wisely, trust God,
Pastor Ray