The Choice

When God created Man according to His own likeliness and in His own image, He did not program Man to follow all His instructions. Man was given a free mind to think and free will to make decisions. God also entrusted Man with the authority and duty to rule over the earth and all the living creatures. If Man exercised his free will according to the divine purpose, he might gain abundant life by ¡¥the Tree of Life.¡¦ However, we know that our ancestors ¡V Adam and Eve did not make the right decision. Due to Satanic temptation, they made a misguided decision by eating the fruit from ¡¥the Tree of Knowledge.¡¦ And terrible results followed ¡V through one man sin entered the world; death, separation and judgment became a whole bundle of curses that came upon men. Therefore, within a flash of a moment, a man made the wrong choice and ruined his own life, and all the lives of his descendants.

In Genesis 6:1-2, we learn that it was ¡¥when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.¡¦ Again, men exercised their own free choice to decide on their soul mates. And their decision was based on the physical beauty of the girls and not on the delight of God. When men of God made their own choices in marriage, they became mixed with sinful and corruptible seeds. Because they walked in accordance with the flesh, they lost their power of testimony. That started the downward trend of human history. And God was grieved in His heart when He saw such an extensive spread of sins on earth and the deep intensity of corruption in human hearts. God was sorry that He had made Man on the earth. Men of God began to depart from Him in their choice for marriage. Men sinned against God through a wrong choice.

When Abram departed the sinful cities of Ur and Haran, his nephew Lot went with him. Abram loved Lot and treated him as his own son. When their flocks and herds multiplied, the land could not support them. They realized they could not dwell together and they should separate. Although Abram as the senior could make his choice first, he yielded and allowed Lot to make his choice instead. Lot chose for himself the whole plain of Jordan. And he gradually moved his family towards a prosperous city, which was also a sinful and wicked city ¡V Sodom. (Genesis 13:11-13) As Lot enjoyed the prosperity, position and power coming from the city of Sodom, his spirit became dull and he further distanced himself from enjoyment with God. So he lost everything that he had gained in the city as a result of divine judgment. Lot made a wrong choice. He chose for himself the worldly aspect of life.

Esau and Jacob were twin brothers. Yet, their characters and life styles were very different. Esau desired adventure and loved the game of the open country. Hunting and cuisine made from his game became his focus of life. Jacob was a mild man and loved to stay at home with family. (Genesis 25:27-28) Earthly pleasures grasped Esau¡¦s heart. He didn¡¦t care about spiritual blessing and his personal relationship with God. It was too abstract for him. He was a spiritually short-sighted man, focused only on things at hand. That explains why he despised his birthright and sold it for the bread and stew. He also chose for himself two wives who were Hittites (Genesis 26:34). He did not take seriously picking the right choice in marriage as his father did. He forsook the best choice of heavenly blessings and willfully selected temporary things. Esau made many wrong choices.

We make many decisions in our lives. As we will recall, some of them were wrong decisions. In certain situations, we cannot afford to make a wrong decision. My friend, after you have read and heard our message, ¡¥The Choice¡¦, I earnestly wish you will make a wise decision to accept Jesus Christ, the Son of God as your personal Savior. He came to this world to seek and to save us from sin and judgment. By His saving grace and your committed faith, your sins will be forgiven; and you will be entitled to become the child of God. Please make the right choice.

¡¥¡Kthat I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;¡¦ (Deuteronomy 30:19)

By: Daniel To