By Andrew Williams – September 5, 2021
Good morning fellow disciples.
This week we are going to look at some choices that were made in the Bible. The question that we always have to answer is, ” When you are faced with a choice, what will you choose to do?”
The act of choosing is something we do every single day! Some people believe that in some circumstances that they have no choice or that they cannot choose, but this is not correct.
To Choose means : “to select freely and after consideration, to have a preference for, or to take an alternative”. This shows that once an option is present then we are placed in the position of making a choice. Today our passages shows one of the best known choice of humanity.
And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.” Genesis 2:16-17 HCSB The choice here was to obey or disobey God, and man chose to obey. Mankind freely made this choice and was happy to do so without a second thought. In my mind I think it was easy to choose to obey God because that was the only voice that was being heard. Then came another voice with an opposing point of view.
Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’? ” Genesis 3:1 HCSB
“No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman. “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5 HCSB
The conversation between the serpent and the woman presented an alternative to what God had commanded, and when she considered, she freely chose to eat of the fruit along with her husband who was with her. Another definition of the word choose is “to decide on especially by vote”. I add this in now to say that some choices are made by more than one person, and this choice affects everyone in the group even the minority who lost the vote.
So the question from our topic is “Who do we listen to?” Do we listen to God who is ruler over everything, creator of everything, sustainer of everything, our loving Father, our redeemer, our savior and friend, or do we listen to a created being? Do we listen to the one who speaks truth or the one who speaks lies and half-truths? Do we listen to the ones who will lead us to eternal life or the ones who will lead us to eternal death?
Prayer : Father God I am forever faced with choices. God I am tired of choosing to listen to the spirits from the kingdom of darkness. I have become so used to listening to lies that I normally choose to do evil “without thinking”, because I have developed a preference for sinful things.
Father God help me to think about the choices that I make. Help me to select freely and after CONSIDERATION, and help me to develop a preference for You and Your commands. Father God, I want to listen to Your voice alone and to obey You in all things. Help me to do this I pray, in Jesus’ Name, amen.
