Choices

“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
— Joshua 24:15

As I walked by these two businesses sitting side by side, I couldn’t help but smile. On one side was F45, a place dedicated to discipline, strength, and fitness. Right next door was a doughnut shop with the smell of warm, fresh doughnuts drifting out the front door.

Neither business is bad. In fact, both can bring enjoyment in their own way.

But together they reminded me of something much bigger.

Life is full of choices.

Every day we choose what we’ll believe, what we’ll value, what we’ll pursue, and ultimately, whom we’ll trust.

The day before, at our But God men’s gathering, someone asked a thoughtful question:

“If God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and everywhere at once, why did He give us free will?”

It’s one of those questions that reminds us there are mysteries that only God fully understands. There are truths that ultimately require faith.

But I remember someone explaining it this way years ago.

God chose us.

He chose to create us in His image.

He chose to love us before we ever loved Him.

He chose to call us His children and heirs to His kingdom.

And because love cannot be forced, He also chose to give us the freedom to love Him in return.

Without that freedom, we would simply be robots carrying out commands. Instead, God created us with the incredible privilege of choosing Him because He first chose us.

The Bible is filled with people making choices.

Twelve spies entered the Promised Land. Ten returned focused on the giants, the obstacles, and the impossibilities. Only Caleb and Joshua chose to believe God’s promise instead of their fears. Their faith saw what everyone else missed, while unbelief cost an entire generation the opportunity to enter the land God had prepared for them.

Jesus Himself made an unexpected choice.

Unlike most Jewish rabbis of His day, who waited for students to choose them, Jesus chose His disciples.

Fishermen.

A tax collector.

Ordinary men.

People who looked a lot like you and me.

His invitation was simple:

“Follow Me.”

That invitation still stands today.

Every day we make hundreds of choices. Some seem insignificant. Others shape the course of our lives.

God has not left us guessing.

He has given us His Word—not merely as a list of rules, but as His love letter to us. Through the Scriptures, He teaches us wisdom, discernment, and the joy that comes from walking with Him.

The more we know Jesus, the more the things of this world begin to lose their grip on our hearts. The temporary slowly gives way to the eternal. Earthly treasures begin to pale in comparison to the treasure of knowing Christ.

Today you’ll make countless decisions.

Some will be small.

Some will be life-changing.

But perhaps the greatest choice is the one Jesus continues to place before every one of us:

“Will you follow Me?”

Choose Him today.

“I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.”
— Deuteronomy 30:19

“We love because He first loved us.”
— 1 John 4:19