A fetus nestled securely in its mother's womb has no sense of its existence and certainly has no choices. It is kept warm by the warmth of its mother and fed through an umbilical cord, and seems to be totally problem free.

Once born, the child again has no real sense of its existence and its choices are few; reserved to moving arms and legs, crying when hungry, too warm or cold, etc., but again it makes few choices, perhaps to cry or not to cry.

But as we get older we decide we do not want to eat this or that and start making choices. We like certain other children and we choose who we will play with, and decide what clothes we will wear, subject usually to mother's approval. But you get the idea, as we grow older and older we are subject to making more and more choices on our own.

Some day we will even decide to get married. But, and here is an important point, deciding to get married and being married are not necessarily the same thing. You see anybody can make a decision to get married, but being married is a demonstration of that decision. Being married is the fulfilling of that decision. Being married is a way of life -- it is not a decision.

Spiritually, man has been presented with the opportunity to choose that which is good and reject that which is evil.

Even those who follow the Christian Way must still continue to exercise the right of choice. The Apostle Paul cautions Christians as to how to build upon the foundation laid in Christ Jesus. He emphasizes the necessity to select the proper materials with which to build in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, saying:

11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it [work] shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Nations, as well as individuals, are called upon to make selections. Moses brought this fact forcefully to the attention of God's Israel people, stating to them in Deuteronomy 7:6, 11-12:

6 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
11 Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.
12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:

Notice the "if" in verse 12: If ye hearken, if ye keep them, and if ye do them, these ifs are evidence that they had a choice to make. Later on Moses declared to Israel in Deuteronomy 30:15, 19- 20:

15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Here the choices are between "Life and good," or "death and evil," and that these are choices are plain, as Moses says in verse 19: "therefore choose life." Before all mankind lies the way that leads to life eternal, but no one can escape the necessity to make a choice.

For the most part we know our way around the town or city we live in, but when we take a trip we generally want a road map to make sure we travel on the right highways. Likewise Scripture talks about paths to follow or gates to enter and highways to travel upon, such as we read about in Isaiah 11:15-16:

15 And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.
16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.

This refers to a future returning remnant and uses the language in the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt when they departed Egypt and had Pharaoh's army coming at them from the rear and their backs were to the Red Sea. It looked to them as though there was no way out of the situation, for certainly if they went North, West or South, Pharaoh would get them, and they certainly saw no way to cross the Red Sea.

This was a problem only for the children of Israel -- it was no problem for God, who simply parted the Rea Sea providing a highway of dry land for them to walk upon, and they followed the road through the Sea to the other side. With waters on their left and waters on their right as they passed through the Sea there was no way to take a wrong turn. No way to get lost. It was like the yellow brick road in the Wizard of Oz.

And so it shall be when God decides to regather His Israel people. He will subdue whatever enemies He has to, He will provide for their needs, He will protect them, and He will provide a highway for them to follow. But there are choices to be made -- therefore heed the exhortation of our Lord in Matthew 7:13-14:

"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
"Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."

Few people, if any, have a problem driving on a freeway for they are well marked, straight and wide, and bypass most cities. However when we exit a highway and enter a strange town we become lost. If there were no signs we would have trouble finding Kentucky Fried Chicken. And if there were no signs we would have to hunt for one or stop and ask somebody.

So straight is the way to the city but narrow is the way to a specific place. The same is true for choosing life and death. Nevertheless, those who are guided by the precepts of the Written Word of God have an adequate road map so that they will not miss the way, for as the Prophet Isaiah says in chapter 35:8:

"And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein."

"A highway shall be there and a road, which shall be called the Holy Way; no unclean one shall pass over it -- But it shall be for his people as they go along the way - - and no fools shall wander there."

Yes, a highway will be there for us to follow and it is called the "way of holiness." It is so called because no impure person should travel it. The idea is that all who should have access to the favor of God and enter His kingdom should be holy.

Back in Leviticus 20:7, God told Israel: "Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God." Being unclean is being contrasted with being Holy and Israel failed to be Holy because in order to be Holy, Israel had to quit doing things which were unlawful. And in doing unlawful things they were unclean.

Thus we have a choice to make, we can choose life or death. But simply saying we choose one of the other is not enough, for our choice must be demonstrated by our actions. Therefore, if we choose death, then we choose to be unlawful and therefore unclean. If we choose life then we must follow Christ and walk as He walked being obedient to all the laws, statutes, Judgments and commandments of the Lord thy God.

Yes, it is easy to choose to marry, and it is easy to choose life, but it is not so easy demonstrating your choice, but I assure you that by our works our choice is known to God as well as to our brethren.

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