You Make Your Choices – Lk. 13:18-35
This past week I was texting back and forth with one of my children regarding families we have known. Some of those families seem to have suffered countless tragedies. Many have broken up and fallen apart. My child began to question if our family had just been lucky all these years. In that brief moment of my child’s doubt, I was reminded that, in many cases, what has befallen so many of our friends is a direct result of the choices they made.
God doesn’t live in the realm of luck. Happenstance and coincidence are not part of his game plan. But, choices are. He has given each of us a free will; the ability to choose. And with each and every choice comes consequences.
Last week, the emphasis of Jesus’ teaching was Israel’s bad attitude and how it kept her from fulfilling her mission to be God’s mouthpiece in the earth. In today’s text, he shifts his attention to the lost. He makes it clear that each person ultimately chooses his or her own eternal destination. The consequences for that choice cannot be undone.