Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

...choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods 

your fathers served in the region beyond the river,

 or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. 

But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Joshua 24:14

We all make decisions each and every day - scores of choices big and small.  Some decisions we agonize over, but many others are made with very little forethought.  What, where and when to eat, for example, are usually not determinations that involve heavy-duty thinking.  There is nothing in our day-to-day lives, however, that does not include decisions: work, school, leisure, vacation, entertainment, exercise, and nourishment. 

I am an avid reader of mystery novels - who-dun-it's, and one of my favorite authors is Anne Perry.  Her marvelous books are set in the Victorian era in England, and showcase either the sleuthing skills of William Munk, or Inspector Thomas Pitt.  I have just finished Acceptable Loss, featuring Mr. Munk, his wife Hestor, and their friend Oliver Rathbone, a famous London barrister.  At the heart of the story are three additional characters - Mr. Rathbone's wife, Margaret, his father-in-law, Arthur Ballenger, and Rupert Cardew, a dissolute but kind young man.  These three characters form the emotional core of the story, and each makes decisions - some rash and on the spur of the moment, that drastically alter the course of their lives (not toward goodness, but in the opposite direction).

I have to laugh at myself sometimes, because I am often found arguing with one of the characters in a book - cautioning them regarding a choice they have made or are making.  "Oh pleeeease, don't go there!!!"  Obviously, it does little good to talk to a character in a novel.  But processing what decisions are being made and what the outcomes are likely to be is a wonderful learning experience for me, if my heart is open to accepting the lessons that are there.

All of us have decisions to make today, and again tomorrow, that will affect the path of our lives.  One of those choices is to whom we will give our allegiance.  The Old Testament leader, Joshua, knew this.  In his confrontation with the people of Israel, he demanded of them, "CHOOSE... Choose whom you are going to serve - the pagan gods from your past, the gods of your Amorite neighbors, or the Lord God."  That same question comes to us today.  Who will you choose to serve?  Yourself?  The gods of money, power and prestige?  Or the Creator of the universe?