Choosing...to Choose
Jeffries found himself in the midst of a maddening struggle--with himself. He couldn’t decide whether or not to marry Lisa, the love of his life. In his own words, Lisa was “too perfect...she’s too smart, too talented, too sophisticated, too everything but what I want.” What did Jeff want? A woman who could “go anywhere, and do anything, and love it!”
Convinced that Lisa would be unhappy sharing his life of world travel and rough-and-tumble adventure, and that he would be equally miserable sharing her tame, New York society lifestyle, Jeff risked losing Lisa by refusing to choose. Instead, he suggested to his beloved that they could “just keep things status quo.” In other words, maintain their dating relationship indefinitely.
In a sense, I believe this is what countless people are doing in terms of their spiritual lives and their eternal destiny. Like those two protagonists in the Hitchcock film Rear Window, a vast legion of people are riding the fence between two worlds, keeping their options open, maintaining the status quo...refusing to choose.
The Bible tells of an ultimate showdown between the power of Jehovah and the power of the false god Baal, which took place on Mount Carmel centuries before Christ was born. At that time Elijah, the true God’s spokesman, challenged the indecision and apathy of the crowds that had gathered for this battle of the gods: “How long will you waver between two opinions?” he asked them. “If Baal is God, then serve him; if Jehovah is God, then serve Him!” But the Scriptures report that “the people answered him not a word.”
Because of the spiritual backsliding of their nation, perhaps because of peer pressure or the awareness that the nation’s royalty was supportive of Baal-worship, the Israelites were unwilling to choose sides in this face-off. It actually took a supernatural sign in the form of fire falling from heaven and consuming a bull, a stone altar, and a trench full of water, to convince these wayward worshipers that Baal was a fraud (1 Kings 18:16-40). This account makes it plain to me that even the most privileged, well-informed, spiritually blessed people can regress in their resolutions to follow after the one true God of heaven and earth.
It occurs to me that the willingness to choose often takes extraordinary courage. And that courage is exactly what is in short supply in our own day. I have heard and read of many a young woman who is at wit’s end bemoaning the lack of willingness to commit in the young men they know. Typically, young women wish to find mates who will happily and eagerly choose them and commit to them for a lifetime. But it seems that the number of guys who are willing to leave their other options behind and forge ahead with a permanent choice is decreasing year by year. Even Christian fellows too often seem to be spinning their wheels, unable or unwilling to choose.
No, we certainly ought not jump into important life choices without due consideration of the pros and cons. But it seems to me that a real man or a real woman is one who has come to know him/herself well enough to make a firm, final decision when the occasion calls for one. And, after making that choice, follow through with it without looking back.
Moses was such a man. A man of decision and a man of faith.
The book of Hebrews in the New Testament, chapter 11 and verses 24-26, describes Moses as one who chose by faith to follow an extraordinary path, led by an extraordinary God, to do extraordinary things. Moses left status, fortune, pleasures and popularity behind in order to identify himself with a nation of slaves who had nothing but the promises of an unseen God to cling to. Why? Because by faith he looked ahead to the final reward.
What reward do we as believers in Christ look forward to? An eternity of joyful fellowship with our Creator/Redeemer, the Lover of our souls, who paid the price to deliver us from the unending wrath and punishment our sins deserved.
And what reward awaits those who refuse to choose Christ? Those who keep their options open so that they can “enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season” (Hebrews 11:25)? The ones who make the easy choice of falling in with the status-seekers, wealth-wanters, pleasure-panderers of this world? They have, by that wretched choice, or by choosing not to choose, condemned themselves to an eternity of misery and torment at the hands of a God of infinite justice.
By our consciences, by our instincts, and by the revelation of God Himself, we all know that our choices matter. We know that we are meant and called to choose following Christ over following the course of the godless world around us. By faith, the gift of our Lord and Maker, may we have the courage to make that choice.
Choose Christ. Follow Him today. Leave the world behind. Never look back, except to invite others. He alone is worthy of our worship...our trust...our choice.
