What to choose

A day begins as a week comes to a close. As I look back over the last 6 days I am struck by how our choices impact our lives. When Moses sent 12 spies to look at the land God had promised them, 10 spies were overwhelmed by fear and saw only the obstacles. The other 2 saw the glory of the land God had given them. The Israelites chose to listen to the bad report rather than the good. This decision impacted not only themselves but their children and grandchildren. For the next 40 years, they wandered in the desert (until the generation that made the ”decision” had all died).

The decision of the 10 spies impacted the entire nation. The choice of the nation impacted future generations. It is the same in our lives today. The choices I make are often predicated on the theory that they won’t impact (or hurt) anyone but me.

God has made us to be relational. We don’t live in a vacuum. No matter how much we wish it, we can not disconnect ourselves from everyone around us. Even the most recalcitrant hermit has interaction with someone. Too often I have failed to remember this lesson and made choices that have damaged people and relationships. Fortunately, by the grace of God, each day starts anew and I get the chance to make different choices.

May God richly bless you this day.

Numbers 13:32 So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.