Choices of The Soul

“I set before you today a choice of good and evil. Choose life.” God

We have so many choices these days; what to have for dinner, restaurant or fast-food? Which restaurant? Chinese or American? Italian or Greek? As for entertainment; the movie theatre or video-store? Sometimes though our choices stay with us longer than a night of indigestion or a bad movie. Often they affect our soul!

God’s chosen people, the people of Israel, had a clear directive from God. If they chose to obey his commandments he promised great blessing and abundance in their lives as well as in future generations. It went like this: “If you fully obey the Lord your God by keeping all the commands I am giving you today, the Lord your God will exalt you above all the nations of the world. You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God” Deuteronomy 28:1-2.

In the Garden of Eden, at the beginning of mankind, God gave Adam and Eve a wondrous gift. Their will. The right to choose. He didn’t force them to select good over evil. He still doesn’t. However, according to his Word there are benefits of health, prosperity and life for those who decide to obey his commandments. Conversely, the consequences of not obeying is disaster, diseases and death. The choice Adam and Eve made affected people for all time. Likewise, the decisions we make today not only determine our future but will affect the lives of future generations. Again, it is recorded in Deuteronomy 30:19-20 the importance God places on our choices. “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between prosperity and disaster, between life and death.” Like a parent that wants only the best for his child, so God does with His children. He clearly shows the consequences beforehand, yet leaves the decision up to His child. And like a parent, one can hear the hope and agony of his heart when He said, “Oh that you would choose life!”

When God directed Joshua to lead His people into the promised land, like a good leader, he sent two spies into Jericho to check out the city. How fortified was it? How many inhabitants? He needed certain information in order to develop strategy. Yet, God had already gone ahead of them and had created fear in the hearts of the inhabitants. Like others of their city, Rahab the harlot had heard reports about these people whose God fought for them, and had a choice to make. It literally meant life or death for her and her family. She decided to hide the spies from soldiers and help them escape, exacting a promise from them first. The deal was this: She would help them now, if they would help her later. When they came against the city and prevailed, they would spare her life and the lives of her family. They took the deal. “Gather all your family with you and hang a scarlet rope from your window,” they told her “and you and your family will be saved.” And they were! Because of Rahab’s wise choice not only was her life saved, it was changed. She married Salmon, an Israelite, and became the mother of Boaz, and great-great-grandmother of King David.

There came a time when Israel demanded a king so they could be like the surrounding nations. God told them how demanding a king would be, but they wanted a king anyway. So God hand-picked Saul and asked Samuel, his servant, to anoint him as King. Then He set before Saul a choice. Would he fully obey Him or choose to do things as he saw fit? Saul failed the test. Several times! Fed up with Saul’s disobedience, God took the kingdom from him and gave it to another man. One He could trust. “But now your dynasty must end for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already chosen him to be king over his people for you have not obeyed the Lord’s commands” 1 Samuel 15:28. That’s when David, son of Jesse and great, great grandson of Rahab, became King of Israel.

History rolls forward a few hundred years and Joseph, the espoused husband of Mary, faced a dilemma. He had just learned that Mary was pregnant and knew he was not the father. Should he back out of the upcoming marriage? He knew people would talk. Don’t they always? He didn’t want to inflict hurt or bring further shame on her. He loved her dearly. How could he protect her? “As he considered this, he fell asleep, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. ‘Joseph, son of David,’ the angel said, ‘do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary. For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” Matthew 1:20-21.

Imagine his relief and joy, to discover he was a key part of God’s divine plan for all people! His choice? “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord commanded. He brought Mary home to be his wife, but she remained a virgin until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus” Matthew 1:20-21, 24-25.

Judas Iscariot, one of the hand-picked disciples, had a choice to make too. Would he betray his Lord and Savior for thirty pieces of silver? It’s hard to imagine what went on in Judas’ mind and heart after he had actually committed the deed. Yet, we know he paid the ultimate price for his choice. “When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and other leaders, ‘I have sinned,’ he declared, ‘for I have betrayed an innocent man.’ Then Judas threw the money onto the floor of the temple and went out and hanged himself” Matthew 27:3-4,5.

We all have a choice to make. Will we give our hearts and will over to God and ask His son, Jesus, to rule as King in our lives? Will we choose to go His way, or our own way? Will we spend eternity with Him, or separated from Him?

“Oh,” he says, “that you would choose life” Deuteronomy 30:19.