Which road will you choose?
Sin is a vicious cycle. But just because one generation got stuck in that cycle doesn’t mean your generation is the one that has to repeat it.
But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)
I love Robert Frost’s poetry. He’s one of the few I truly enjoy, along with Longfellow and others like my favorite poet Naomi Shihab Nye. But the Frost poem that has meant the most to me throughout my life has been “The Road Not Taken.” It’s probably the poem he’s best known for, and there’s a reason for that: It’s exceptional and relatable.
I don’t know a single person who can hear “The Road Not Taken” and not identify with it. We have all faced choices in our lives, roads that diverge along our individual journeys. And we’ve all had to take one path rather than the other, because we can’t do both. And we all have moments where we wonder, what if?
What if I went the other way? What if I chose differently? What if I hadn’t made a choice in fear or insecurity or anxiety?
We all have choices.
Some of them come about because of other choices we’ve made in our lives. The rest of them come to us because of choices other people have made for us. Not every consequence we face is our own doing. Sometimes—more often than is fair really—we have to deal with the results of the previous generation’s foolish choices.
Sin is a vicious cycle. But just because one generation got stuck in that cycle doesn’t mean your generation is the one that has to repeat it.
You have a choice too.
Will you make a choice based on your shame and guilt? Will you choose based on your own strength or capacity? Will you choose a path that gives in to anger or pride or selfishness?
Or will you choose the path that Jesus walked?
You can choose to forgive those who hurt you. You can choose to love those who hate you. You can choose to serve those who would take advantage of you. And you can do all of that because Jesus has given you the strength to do it.
It’s not fun. Sorry to burst your bubble, but following Jesus isn’t easy. Staying in step with Him will require you to make the hardest decisions of your life. You’ll have to give up the things you think you need. You’ll have to release your hold on the things you think define you. And you’ll have to let go of the driving urge to feel justified in the face of hurt and loss and grief.
But you can do it because Jesus has promised to make every sad thing come untrue. Not here. Not now. But one day.
Believe it. Because He always keeps His promises. Always.
And that means while we’re here, we can choose life. We can choose the path He walked, that one road less traveled by. We can choose to follow Him even when it doesn’t make sense.
You have the choice. No one can make it for you.
So which road will you choose?
Questions for Reflection
Why does God give us the choice of who to follow?
How has God demonstrated His love toward you in your life?
How does believing God’s promises change your life?
Weekly Memory Verse
Why does God give us the choice of who to follow? God is not a dictator so He will never force us to follow Him. He does not desire to be worshiped out of obligation but instead out of choice to love and follow Him.
Yes, we’ve all had to take one path over than the other, because we can’t do both at the same time BUT God does allow us to choose the other path we did not take after we accept Jesus as our savior. But the "What if's" are still very present. For me my what ifs were...if I had continued on my original path (the one rejecting God) where would I be right now? Also, I often wonder where I would be today if I had never rejected God and had chosen the other path. Robert Frosts poem entered into my life in a high school Lit class and that poem stuck with me while I was still a million miles away from God. Then when I allowed Jesus in in 1996 at age 30 that same poem surfaced in my mind, and I realized that God was allowing me to now walk down the other path.