Some have said that our life is the sum result of all the choices we make, both consciously and unconsciously. There is some truth to that and it applies most importantly to our spiritual choices! Our text and message today highlights this principle in living color.
How in the world did the children of Israel end up in such a mess? One word; choices. Something each of us has in common. Every single day… every single moment we make choices. What to eat. What to wear. What to say. What to do. How to act. You’ve made many choices before you arrived here this morning!
The choices we make today are the ones we’re going to have to live with tomorrow.
Bill Hybels in his book Who Are You When No One’s Looking says; “Every single day we make choices that show whether we are courageous or cowardly. We choose between the right thing and the convenient thing, sticking to a conviction or caving in for the sake of comfort, greed or approval. We choose either to take a carefully thought-out risk or to crawl into a shrinking shell of safety, security and inactivity. We choose either to believe in God and trust him, even when we do not always understand his ways, or to second-guess him and cower in the corners of doubt and fear.”
Choices must be made by all of us at some time. The poet James Russell Lowell put it this way: “Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide; Some great cause, God’s new Messiah, offering each the bloom or blight; Parts the goats upon the left hand, and the sheep upon the right; And the choice goes by forever, ’twixt that darkness and that light.”
The choices we make are ultimately our responsibility. Choose wisely my friends!
Blessings,
Rick