Choices

To live life in this world is to make choices. There is no way around it. When we were young, we chose whether to do our homework or not, whether to be mean to our siblings or not. We even had the choice to obey our parents or not. Now we know that with each one of these choices, there is a cause and effect.  Every choice we make has effects from that choice. Some of those effects are not that severe. For example, what we choose to wear. A choice, but usually not that big of an effect. But there are some choices that we make that have eternal ramifications.

This choice goes back to the Old Testament.  I Kings 18:21, “Elijah came near to all the people and said, 'How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word.” In this text, we see a call from the prophet to the people to make a choice. The people were unwilling to commit to a false god or the One True God. They, like so many people today, just wanted to be neutral. But by not making a choice, they made a choice. We live among a lot of people who like the idea of Jesus and would say that they believe that He is the Son of God, the Messiah, and the Savior of the world, but continue to stand at the crossroads of choice. Why? Because many still want to worship the god of self, not wanting to commit to Jesus.

The Apostle Paul gives an imperative to those who choose to be followers of Jesus in Colossians 2:6, “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” The challenge is that if you choose to be a follower of Jesus, then follow Jesus. The effect of choosing Jesus is to follow Him with all you have. The challenge today is the same that Elijah gave in I Kings: stop hesitating between the two opinions.

When we witness to our friends and family, what we are doing is bringing those we love to this crossroad of choice. As much as we would like, we cannot make that choice for them. Maybe you are reading or watching this and still find yourself at the precipice of this cliff of choice and are afraid to take that first step. I wish I could make that choice for you, but what I can do is ask the question, “What are you afraid of?” I would say that you will not be alone in your walk. But ultimately, the choice is yours and has always been yours. If you want to follow Jesus, then follow Him, don’t waver.

Here is what I can tell you: if you choose to be all in on following Jesus, you will never be disappointed. Today choose that you may have life and have life abundantly.