Text: Deuteronomy 30: 11 - 20
Memory Verse: “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,……..” Joshua 24: 15
Welcome to July, an exciting month. To begin with, for us in the UK, summer is here. Oh what a great excitement this brings to our souls and indeed our spirits. The early morning bird songs, the brilliant sun shine, excellent clear blue sky, the great and amazing appearance of sunset; not to talk of the opportunities for exciting holiday abroad; all contribute to the excitement that July epitomizes. And for me, July is a special month because it is the month of my birth. My prayer for you as for myself this month therefore, is that God will bring your way the very special thing that will excite your soul and spirit. Amen!
If you read last month’s homily, you will remember that I talked about our recent trip to Nigeria and the several opportunities the trip afforded us. We came across many of the very old songs that I loved to sing so well as a young boy growing up in Nigeria. In fact, we bought and brought back quite a few CDs that contain many of them. Some of the CDs contain a number of songs by the famous ECWA Choir from Igabaja in Kwara state, called the ‘Singing Bird of Jesus’ (Takete Voice). One song in particular, titled “O ku sowo re” in Yoruba language (literarily meaning “It’s in your hand” or in today’s language –“it’s up to you”), caught my attention. I have been singing this very melodious song almost on daily basis since we returned to the UK more than a month now. Please permit me to interpret and paraphrase the chorus of this song as follows: “It’s up to you; to choose life or death; it’s up to you”. As I sing and process the meaning of the song over and over again in my mind, one word that became strongly impressed upon my mind is choice. And the word choice reminded me of an old but very popular UK television series called “Blind Date”. This was a British dating game show produced by the London Weekend Television and hosted by the very popular English singer, actress and entertainer called Cilla Black. I began watching the show in the early 1996 and I enjoyed watching it until it went off air in 2003. In this show, three single persons of the same sex were introduced to the audience in the show; they would then be questioned by another single person of the opposite sex to them, who only heard but could not see them, for the purpose of making a decision as to who amongst these three would be picked to go on a date with. The most interesting aspect of the show to me and from where the inspiration for the title of this month’s medication comes is the part played by a voice called ‘Graham’. Before final decision as to who amongst the three singles was chosen as the date of the single person of the opposite sex, Graham in his deep and exhilarating voice would give an amusing summary and reminder of each contestants, always concluding it with the phrase “the choice is yours”.
Choice is defined in the dictionary as an act or instance of choosing; the right, power and opportunity to choose. It is the ability to voluntarily decide to perform one of several possible acts or avoid actions entirely. The implication of choice is that there are several possible options or alternatives to choose from but one is preferred; and freewill is key here. Life is the epitome of choice. We make choices every second we are awake, always choosing between doing one thing or the other. To make a good choice however, we must mentally process and judge the merits of the different options we have, and then select our preferred option. Often, the preferred options are determined by our knowledge, understanding, experience, disposition, intended outcome, values and beliefs. Once a choice is made, the usual next step is to follow it by the corresponding action(s). In real sense, life and living is like constantly going on “Blind Date”. We are constantly presented with the need for choosing from so many very inviting options; sometimes some are clearer than the others but quite often very difficult to differentiate between them.
Reading from our text, we see that today, God is placing before us some options from which we must make a choice. We have options of life, which come from walking with God, listening to and obeying His words and commandments, worshipping and honouring Him or death (spiritual and physical), a result of ignoring God, disobeying Him, walking in our own ways and worshipping gods of our own making. As echoed clearly by Joshua to the Israelites, and to us today in our memory verse from Joshua 24: 15, we have to choose between these two – Life or Death. Jesus Christ in John 3: 16 says that “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son (Jesus Christ), that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Apostle John in John 3: 36 also added that “whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him” I know that when it comes to issues of faith and choosing between believing and following God or not, the choice could be even more difficult than you could experience on the most difficult Blind Date game. But everyone of us has been given the freewill by God to choose what we want – to serve God or not, to obey Him or not, to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour or not, etc. However, there is a ‘Graham’ whose summary is more detailed and clearer; and He is always available and ready to help us make the right choice so that we may have the most amazing “date” ever. His name is the Holy Spirit. He will guide you into all truth about God and His will. He is encouraging you to choose Jesus Christ God’s Son and have Life. Ultimately however, the choice is yours. This is the word of the Lord for you this month.
Dr Abel Adegoke