CHOICES
or, Moses' Example of Decision
“Choose.” This is
perhaps the most powerful imperative, in any language. Is it an illusion? A cruel joke?
A stacked deck? For sure, choices
effect options downstream. But, the
imperative remains to swim upstream.
Joshua ended his faithful career with this admonition,
“choose ye, this day, whom ye will serve…”
(Josh.24:15) We, too, have life and death set before us as Moses had
challenged the nation of God a generation earlier. (Deut.30)
Joshua had learned well the importance of volition from his mentor. Now, how will we respond?
In the Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 11, the “Faith Hall
Of Fame”, the writer reminds his readers of the choices made by Moses: the Red Sea, the bloody door, the desert, the
unseen, the suffering, the priesthood.
Each of these built upon earlier choices. The same is true for all of us. Examine the choices of Moses.
(11.29) Visualize the Red Sea standing up in a heaping
watery wall on either side of the fleeing, fearful exiles leaving the land of
bondage. Their yellow spines stood in
clear contrast to the bold, “stand still and see the deliverance of the LORD”
issued fearlessly from the mouth of Moses.
What are our colors? Red? or,
yellow?! Do we stand in faith or cower
in fear? See the fiery-cloudy
pillar! Anticipate the dry ground
through the sea. Fear the drowning of
the foreigners.
(11.28) How could they forget the bloody doors in
Egypt? Moses chose, confidently, the
bloody door over the destroyer, the death angel. He sat with his family eating the unleavened
bread of haste and celebrated, in faith, their deliverance from bondage. An ocean of water was nothing to him who had
chosen against the mysterious death that flowed through the land of his
captors, taking the first-born of every house not marked with the blood. Perhaps, like the snl’s of Lot, generations
earlier, some had thought the call to leave was a jest, a joke, a rube's ruse. How wrong they were. In faith, Moses chose
the blood. This is no joke. The SNL approach to life will end in death.
(11.27) A bloody door was the obvious choice for the man
Moses who had spent forty years in blood, sweat, and tears in the desert. Moses chose the desert, with all its unknowns,
for the position in the palace to which he had become accustomed. Perhaps many days he thought on the life he
had left and the life he was enduring in the sand and heat. But, he remained faithful to his choice. There he encountered the unconsumed bush
displaying the all-consuming Fire! There
a passion was ignited in his heart, a passion for freedom, for faith, for
fearlessness. The choices were building
a rock in the sands of Sinai.
(11.26) Back up four decades and think on the choice Moses
made between disgrace for God and the diadems of Egypt. He could see the treasures of Egypt, was
likely wearing some of it! And, Moses
had seen the afflictions of the Hebrews, his people. But, Moses chose the unseen over the
seen.
The choice of his nurse maid,
decades earlier suggested by his sister to the princess, had born fruit. Surely the childhood stories told him by his
motherly nurse maid, were emblazoned on his heart, unseen, but believed. And Moses chose to believe her voice! Thank the Lord for godly mothers who tell the
stories of faith to the little ones. And
when they are older, they come to mind.
Choose to listen.
(11.25) Fundamentally, Moses had made a choice between the
eternal and the temporary, the difficult and the easy, the upstream and the
slide, the suffering and sin. Sure, sin
is real, fun, exhilarating, intoxicating, thrilling. But, the results are real: disappointment, brokenness, addiction,
hangovers, dissatisfaction, and, lastly, death.
Choose. Rather be a martyr or a
meth-head? A saint or a sick
addict? A warrior, scarred and bleeding,
or a wimp, shriveled and diseased? Satan
lies. Hollywood lies. Madison Avenue lies. Choose truth.
(11.24) Imagine DeMilles’ “The Ten Commandments” visualization
of a royal-robed Moses examining the coarse Levitical garment he has
found. Have you found who
you are, who you really are? Moses chose
between Prince and priest that day. You
need to choose who and what you really are.
There is power in knowing who you are, where you are going, and from
where you come. (Jn.13.1-5)
(11.23) A generation earlier, Amram and Jochebed made a
choice between life and law, between faith and fear. The parents of Moses chose God. The choices we make ripple through the
generations. A&J effected Moses,
effected Joshua; and now we have come full circle. It is so in our lives. R&M choose Christ, effecting J who
marries faithful M, effecting S, J, and S, who marry believing D, H, and L; and
along come J, S, D&B, H, and … (may the chain go on, unbroken, until He
comes!)
God surely allows resets.
We must choose repentance and make the 180’s when needed. But, let’s choose “option F” – fast and furious,
focused and forceful, fearless and faithful!
“Choose ye this day…”
Listen to the “voice of truth”!
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