TITLE: The Choice Is Yours By Lance Wilson, Sr. 07/29/06 |
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The Choice is Your’s
by Lance K. Wilson, Sr.
There is a fable that Reinhard Bonnke, an evangelist that has ministered to multitudes of people in the third world, related to a crowd one evening. It is African in origin and goes like this;
In a small village there lived a very wise old man who helped many there with his wisdom. Over the years he became an important figure in the village second only to the chief. He was sought by all the villagers and everyone loved and respected him.....except for one young man who was very jealous of the old man. He purposed to humiliate the old man by showing him to be a fraud in front of the whole village.
So, he found a butterfly and captured it. He then placed the butterfly in the palm of his hand and gently closed it in his fist. His plan was to approach the old man, show him his closed fist, and ask a simple question, “Alive or Dead?” if the old man said ‘dead’ he would open his hand and allow the butterfly to fly away thereby showing all that the wisdom the old man possessed was fraudulent. If he said ‘alive’ then he would crush the butterfly with his pinky, open his hand and thereby prove the old to truly be a fraud.
The day came for the young man’s scheme. The old man sat in front of his hut as the young man approached him. With a wicked grin on his face he said in a loud voice, “OLD MAN, in my fist I hold a butterfly”. The old man looked at the young man’s fist. “I have one question for you,” he continued. “ALIVE OR DEAD” he shouted, as he thrust his fist toward the old man.
The villagers nearby stopped what they were doing and watched as the old man did not move but simply sighed. After a few minutes had passed the young man again shouted, “Alive or Dead?” and this time he took a step toward him. The old man only watched the young mans fist and said nothing. Finally the young man, enraged by the old man’s silence, hissed at him, “Alive or Dead?”
The old man looked into the young man’s eye’s and sorrow etched across the old man’s face as he softly replied, “The choice has always been yours.”
In the book of Deuteronomy, chapters 28 - 30, Moses, speaking through the unction of God Himself, puts before the children of Israel two distinct paths that they can follow. The first path is a path of blessings. They are told that if they follow the commands of God these blessings will happen to them for generations. Then he flips the coin and tells them of the curses that will come to them if they refuse to follow God’s commands. They are given what some of us would call a “no brainer”. But, Moses, knowing that the children were just that....children, reminds them in the 29th chapter of all the wonderful things that God had already done on their behalf.
How he protected them from pharaoh, brought them out of Egypt, feed them in the wilderness. How much He loves them and only desires the best for them. The ‘capper’, is the 19th verse of the 30th chapter, look here,
“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:” Deut.30:19 (KJV).
Within each one of us there is free will. God planned it to be so. Unfortunately, we use it to make the wrong choices.
See, on our own we would choose death. On our own we would allow our pride to rise up within us and take over lives. On our own we would wallow in the depths of our sins, not realizing that each second was bringing us closer to the judgement of a Holy and just God.
Free will, that part of our makeup that decides between right and wrong, good and evil, fact and fiction, etc. etc., has been polluted over the centuries by sin. In today’s modern world it has become influenced by politics, the media and even the church. Free will therefore forces each one of us to make a choice. If one refuses to make a choice one has already chosen. So we can see there is no way around ‘free will’.
Some may have, at one time or another, wondered why God just doesn’t make people turn to Him. Why with just one word from God he could have the entire human race fall down and love Him. Yes, God could do those things. He is truly the omnipotent one. At the same time He is an intelligent and merciful God. He knows that it is easier to have someone love you for who you are in their lives than it is to force them to love you. When we come to the realization of what God has done in our lives, and who He truly is to us, then that love is much stronger and becomes unshakable. But if He was to force us to love Him, that love would be false, it would hide fear and hatred, it would be conditional based on what He could do for us.
God is not like that.
Think for a moment of all the choices there are in this world. Think too of the benefits that each employs. Now ask yourself if any of the worlds choices would lead to eternal life! Is there peace and comfort in them? Can they take away your burdens or forgive your transgressions? Ask yourself if any of them offer you the reward of being in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the heavenlies.
You may say, “Well brother, I have already obtained salvation. I am a Christian.” I say great but you too have a choice! Your choice lies in your faithfulness. Are you showing the unconditional love and compassion that God has shown toward you? Are you an example of Jesus here on earth? Do you tell the children in your church that they have to be obedient to authority and yet you yourself murmur against the Pastorate? Do you arrive on time for service or get there when you get there? Do you shortchange your tithe or don’t give it at all? Are you striving with all you know to seek the Holy Spirit and follow His leadings?
James says,
“And become doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves,
“Because, if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer,
this one hath been like to a man viewing his natural face
in a mirror, for he did view himself, and hath gone away
and immediately he did forget of what kind he was;”
James 1:22-23 (YLT)
James in essence is saying it is possible for us as believers to talk the talk and yet not walk the walk! We can have all manner of ‘dirt’ on our faces yet until we look in the mirror we will never know what others see. That mirror is the word of God and once we see where the ‘dirt’ is it becomes only a matter of cleaning it off! That is our choice saints of God. We can either continue hearing the sermons and not doing what we are exhorted to do or we can strive to seek the strength of God to accomplish His statutes and live holy in this present world. As God’s representatives we have a divine duty to be the “light of the world” with which the lost can find their way. God is looking for those that will be that light, that will worship Him in spirit and in truth. How can the lost make an informed choice if we have not truly chosen yet?
May God touch each of us this day with a conviction to do His will with a desire to walk in His commandants and with a renewed love for those that are living in the clutches of the enemy, to witness to them of the love and mercy and grace of our Father.
The choice has always been yours.
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