Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - CHOICES 2

 CHOICES 2

Choices: what we do almost every minute, of every day, of our lives. Whether we realize it or not, our time is literally consumed with the constant choosing of one path or another. Most choices are very minor, but in reality they almost all stem from that original choice made by man when he decided to disobey God and discover the difference between good and evil. And in effect, most of our choices today are essentially that - choosing good or evil; although today, we don’t think of it in those terms.

Most choices we will make consciously.  Do I eat healthy (good) or all junk food (evil),  stay sober (good) or drink to excess (evil), be productive with our time (good) to lazy about it (evil)? You get the picture.  However, some choices are made by default, so we don’t really tend to notice them (e.g.: the choice to breath). It, therefore, becomes really important to seriously consider the big picture choices we must make. For example: do you choose to believe that you are the result of billions of random mutations beginning from primordial sludge to the human that you are today or do you choose to believe that you were the creation of an intelligent being?

Do you believe that the universe with its two trillion galaxies and innumerable stars and planets came from a singularity which suddenly exploded into our universe or do you choose to believe that it was planned by an omniscient God?

If you do believe that there is more than just random choice in everything, then just what kind of “god” do you choose to believe in? Do you consider God to be a distant, austere deity? One that requires constant work or even human sacrifice to satisfy? A god who has no involvement in one’s life or activity other than a judge after death? Or are you more apt to think of God as being caring and loving? A God who is intimately involved with His created beings,  even though His standards are such that no human could possibly meet them, overcoming this problem by forgiving us through His own sacrifice. Rather than demanding we sacrifice to Him, He has sacrificed for us. So which God would you choose? 

We all have choices to make in this world; choices that have to be made in faith. Billy Graham was once asked how he had become so successful. His reply was that he had made a choice to preach the word of God in all of its offensive glory.

“As that night wore on, my heart became heavily burdened. Could I trust the Bible? …I had to have an answer. If I could not trust the Bible, I could not go on… “O God! There are many things in this book I do not understand. There are many problems with it for which I have no solution. There are many seeming contradictions. There are some areas in it that do not seem to correlate with modern science.”
I was trying to be on the level with God, but something remained unspoken. At last the Holy Spirit freed me to say it. “Father, I am going to accept this as Thy Word - by faith! I’m going to allow faith to go beyond my intellectual questions and doubts, and I will believe this to be your inspired Word.” …Not all my questions were answered, but a major bridge had been crossed. In my heart and mind, I knew a spiritual battle in my soul had been fought and won”*

Billy Graham made a choice; he chose to accept the Word of God by faith. He chose to accept the God of the Bible rather than another possible deity as many people do. Making the right choice can make all the difference in your life and for eternity.

God said “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life…” (Deuteronomy 30:19) and “…I have set before you today life and good, death and evil,” (Deuteronomy 30:15).  To choose good or evil, life or death is ours; we have that authority. 

Joshua 24:15 put it this way “…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve [either the gods of the land or of others]…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

We should all make the same choice if we think carefully about it.   

*Quoted from The Minor Prophets by Phil Moore (2017), pages100-101