Thursday, March 19, 2020

Our choices matter!

Choices matter...
I often point to Abram and Sarah's terrible joint-decision for Abram to have a child with Hagar as one of those choices that led to hundreds upon hundreds of years of conflict. Every time you turn on the news, pick up a paper or tune in to the radio, you hear of ongoing effects of their choice.
Choices matter. Flat and simple; they matter. Every day is filled with the opportunity for faithfulness and failure. Granted, some choices are much bigger than others, but they all matter.

Consider a couple of cases: "...the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose." (Genesis 6:2 ESV) We can debate all day about who the "...sons of God..." were, but there is no debate about what their choices led to; they were destroyed.
Second case: "So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the LORD." (Genesis 13:11-13 ESV)
Lot chose "...the cities of the valley..." Why was that a bad choice? "Now the men of Sodom were wicked..." Fast forward to Genesis 19; read the rest of the story.
We rarely think the steps of today lead to the valley of tomorrow, but they do.
Choices matter. Joshua told Israel to make their choice carefully (see Joshua 24:15), but he made it clear he would choose the Lord. How wise! Let us do likewise, in the big and the small, let us choose the Lord.

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