By David ReayThursday 7 Oct 2021LifeWords DevotionalsDevotionsReading Time: 2 minutes
“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! (NLT)
We might see our lives as played out in a sequence of choices. We can see how the decisions we have made or are making, shape and reshape our lives. It is wrong to think we are somehow predetermined to make choices, that we have no freedom to go one way or another. We are responsible in our choosing because we can and do freely choose. We are not helpless robots but accountable human beings.
And those choices we make may lead us further along a destructive path, or further along a path to fulfilling our true humanity. Not that one bad decision inevitably leads to a bad end. We may suffer consequences, but even the worst decisions can be redeemed, can be woven into the texture of our lives in such a way that we grow and learn from them.
Our God is always the God of the second chance. The prodigal son made a bad decision which caused him and others hardship. But he was able to make a good decision to come home from the far country and so have a fresh start. Licking his wounds but still on his feet.
Even so, like the people of God as they entered their promised land, we are asked to choose wisely and well. God can redeem our bad choices, but it can save us and others a lot of trouble if we make good choices in the first place. Choosing to go his way is always the best choice we can make.
Blessings,
David