As our son left the house each morning to go to high school, either my wife or I would say, “Make good choices today.” We wanted him to understand that he, and he alone, had the power to make choices about his behavior that day. No matter what his friends were saying or doing, only he controlled what he would say or do. If he made a bad choice, it would not help him to tell us that his friends also got into trouble.
In this weekend’s first reading, Joshua tells the Israelites, “Decide today whom you will serve…As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua knew that the decision to serve the Lord was not the easy choice. It involved commitment, sacrifice, and humility. Serving “other gods” would likely be easier. Joshua also knew that he could not force the Israelites to serve the Lord. It was their choice. At the end of this passage, we read that the Israelites did, in fact, choose to serve the Lord. However, over the ensuing years, their level of commitment varied from strong to non-existent.
We each make a personal choice to have faith in Jesus Christ. It is a difficult choice because it involves accepting more than one “hard saying.” Our choice involves opening our hearts and minds to the possibility that there is someone greater than ourselves who we cannot see or feel in the traditional sense. Our choice also involves accepting the fact that the Son of God came down from Heaven for our salvation, returned to Heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, and left us the gift of His flesh and blood in the Eucharist. Whatever we decide, we must recognize that we are making a conscious choice and that we alone have the power to make that choice. As with my son, it doesn’t matter what our friends say or do. It is a choice that defies logic, is counter-cultural, and is focused on the long term, not the immediate. It continues to be a choice that involves commitment, sacrifice, and humility. But if we choose wisely (and remain committed to our choice), we proudly get to say, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!” God Bless!
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