Editorials
choose this day
When Adam and Eve were told they could eat of every tree in the Garden of
Eden except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they symbolized
the life-defining choice that is extended to us every day: whether to obey or
disobey the Lord.
The whole history of the world, and the very fabric of our culture, are
written in the consequences of free choices. We see the fallout and the potential
every day – from our own choices and those of others. And our lives – in this
world and to eternity – are defined by the pattern of our choices, which forms
our ruling love.
We make choices every day – some consciously, others unconsciously,
many seemingly innocuous, but always guided by the principles we choose to
honor. Most of those choices are focused on our natural lives, but within every
one of them is a spiritual dimension as well. Some are big choices – marriage,
family, career, faith. Others are reflected in how we choose to treat people in
small moments, how we respond to challenging situations, how we fill our
time, and what we choose to love in any moment.
Most of our choices seem entirely temporal – made for the moment and
quickly overtaken. But no choice happens in a spiritual vacuum. Each takes
its place in the continuum of providence, either turning us toward the Lord
and heaven or away from Him and toward hell. This is what we are ultimately
choosing throughout our lives: whether to love and follow the Lord by serving
Him and our neighbor, or to reject Him by loving ourselves and the world.
This is not a choice to be put off to the distant future, when we are “ready.”
It is a choice we are making throughout our lives, every day, but always with
the opportunity to change and regenerate. It’s good to reflect on the choices we
make each day – especially since we know that with them we are also choosing
to associate with good or evil spirits in the other world where we are making
our home. Consider this from Apocalypse Revealed 552:
It should be noted that every man, as to his affections and their resulting thoughts,
is associated with his like in the world of spirits, and mediately through them,
with those who are either in heaven or hell. Every man’s life depends upon that
conjunction.
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