There Really Is A Choice

Daniel 2:17-30 1

John 2:12-17

I wish I could say that I always trust God with my whole heart, but that is simply not true. There are times when I am drawn off course by enticements or by worldly concerns. At those times I forget that I have a choice in how to live my life, that God offers a better way, that the world is not what it is all about. Verses in two of our readings today deal with the choice that we have between doing things God’s way and the way of the world.

In Daniel we read of God’s wisdom and how it transcends that of the world. “Daniel answered the king, ‘No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or diviners can show to the king the mystery that the king is asking, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has disclosed to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen at the end of days’” (Daniel 2:27-28). No matter how wise the “wise men” may be they are not able to penetrate the wisdom of God. Daniel chooses to trust God and finds the truth. In 1 John the writer implores his readers, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world — the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches — comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live for ever” (1 John 2:15-17). To choose the world is to choose eventual decay and death, but to choose God is to accept the true meaning of life.

Even as people of faith we will struggle with this challenge. That is why we must not only choose God, but also depend on God for the ability to make the choice. Nor is this a “once and done” sort of thing. The options will continually pop up all the days of our lives. Bottom line: there is a choice to be made – a real one with real consequences – and this is a grace-filled thing, because if there were no choice to be made between God and the world all would be lost. Instead there is a better way, thanks be to God.

Prayer: Lord, help us choose to follow you in our lives and to live as your people. In Jesus’ name. Amen.