Today is the day the Lord has made…
I will rejoice today because I have many choices, so I choose to rejoice!
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words. It is expressed in the choices one makes. In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.”
God places the responsibility for the choices we make on our shoulders. God is all powerful. He could have created us to blindly follow Him, but He didn’t. God does not force us to do what He wants us to do. God in His infinite wisdom has given us freedom to make choices. How we use that freedom can determine our quality of life.
Being responsible for one’s choices is a heavy burden to bear because we have no one to blame but ourselves when we go astray. Which reminds me of another quote by Hubert Humphrey: “To err is human. To blame someone else is politics.”
Ultimately, right choices bring peace of mind; bad choices bring difficulty. God does not need to punish us for a bad choice because it will bring its own distress. It’s the cause-and-effect principle. What we sow, we reap (Galatians 6:7-8). While it’s true God forgives sin, the effects of sin will remain.
God longs for a relationship with us, but He will not impose it on us. He will beckon or encourage us to come to Him. He will make Himself available. He will love us. He will stand at the door and knock, but He won’t come in and fellowship with us unless He is invited (Revelation 3:20). He initiates, but we must choose to respond on our own.
“…choose for yourself this day whom
you will serve…” ~Joshua 24:15
