Dear Friend,
We have learnt that choices can result in either a positive or negative effect. This effect is not limited to just you; your choices affect others.
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefoe choose life that both thou and thy seed may live: (Emphasis mine) Deuteronomy 30:19
- Have you ever stayed out very late and eventually got back home?
- Have you ever been so hungry that you helped yourself to something in the fridge only for someone else to come home craving for that same thing?
If you’ve been in any of the above situations or similar, then you would really know that your actions don’t just affect you alone but others also. Someone would have been seriously worried of your whereabouts or unhappy about your “food massacre”.
Moses said to the people, in order for you and your seed to live, you’ve got to make the right decision; choose life! Sometime later Joshua, now Moses’ successor, in addressing the people said:
But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Emphasis mine) Joshua 24:15
The first thing I want you to note is that choices need to be reviewed and revalued. Chances are that these Israelites decided on obeying God as Moses admonished, but here we see Joshua telling them the same thing again. Have you made any decision and failed in keeping to it? Why don’t you take sometime out to go over them and make the necessary changes where appropriate?
Joshua in the above passage was encouraging the people to renounce all idolatry, and to serve God alone. He was calling them to live free of deceit and hypocrisy. He tells them: The terms of agreement have been written, it’s now your choice to accept or decline. No more double-standards choose! You have to be very careful here because the desirable is not always the most reasonable.
The Psalmist in Psalm 119 says:
I hate double-minded men, but I love your law. Psalm 119:113
In other words, I agree with your terms, I know they’re perfect, but I dislike people who can’t take a stand. An undecided man or woman is two-faced, two-souled, unsettled in his opinions, double-minded, has divided loyalty and that’s why they seem unstable.
A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. James 1:8
This takes my mind back to the times I spent in the lab at school. When I was taking a food and nutrition class, often I would be tempted to add more spices to the food, but on a second –thought that I would be serving the food to assessors who would mark me, I made sure everything was moderate. I realised my choice could affect me and them. Likewise, at the university during my group laboratory tests, I was extremely careful about my choices of specimen, equipment and measurements, knowing that it could affect the groups’ result. You and your seed, me and my house!
Friend, how long will you stay unbalanced and prone to crumbling? It’s time to choose! Who will that migration, career change, shopping spree or business opportunity affect?? Decide and seal the deal.
Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Don’t get sidetracked. Proverbs 4:26-27a
Related Journals:
Choose – Part 1
Choose – Part 3
I Heard a Word 