by David Gibson<\/p>\n
Many are avid baseball fans, but others care nothing about it. Some love to sit in a fishing boat hour after hour; this bores others stiff. Opera has its devotees; others can’t stand it. Probably most would agree that baseball, fishing, and opera are not matters of life and death. If you like it, fine. If you don’t, that’s OK, too.<\/p>\n
Does devotion to God fit in the same category as sports, hobbies, gardening, and other pastimes? In other words, fine if you like it, but OK if you don’t? That seems to be how some feel about it. To them, it’s quite all right if others wish to pursue a relationship with God, but that’s just not their thing.<\/p>\n
Our society sets a high premium on the right to choose. God is the one who gave us free will.\u00a0We can seek Him or pursue a hundred other options.<\/p>\n
But are we prepared to argue that all choices are equally valid? Is it just as valid to be an atheist as to be a Christian? Is it just as valid to worship idols as to worship the Maker of all things? Does it matter if we get into the occult, drug scene, or pornography?<\/p>\n
Joshua told his people, “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD<\/em>” (Joshua 24:15 NASB).<\/p>\n Is Joshua saying they have a choice? Absolutely. Is he saying it doesn’t matter which way they go? Of course not. He knew which way would lead to ultimate happiness, but they were the ones to decide. God does not make anyone serve Him. For service to God to be of any value, it must be freely chosen.<\/p>\n Moses had warned his people, “. . . I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live<\/em> . . .” (Deuteronomy 30:19).<\/p>\n Christ offers us a choice: the way that leads to life or the way that ends in destruction (Matthew 7:13-14). Which shall we choose? Or, more accurately, which are we choosing? We’re on one path or the other-at this very moment.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by David Gibson Many are avid baseball fans, but others care nothing about it. Some love to sit in a fishing boat hour after hour; this bores others stiff. Opera has its devotees; others can’t stand it. Probably most would agree that baseball, fishing, and opera are not matters of life and death. If you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1644,763,426],"class_list":["post-85507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-choice","tag-decisions","tag-free-will"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56912,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-hidden-ball-trick\/","url_meta":{"origin":85507,"position":0},"title":"The Hidden Ball Trick","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 15, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Thomas A. Thornhill, Jr. Most of you know that one of my \"hobbies\" is officiating sports.\u00a0\u00a0In an odd sort of way, I call it \"stress relief\" as I focus on the game I am officiating.\u00a0\u00a0I work in three sports, but the one I am most proficient in (and experienced\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/12\/baseball-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":35138,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-wants-me-to-be-happy-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":85507,"position":1},"title":"God Wants Me to be Happy (Moyer)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 by Doy Moyer This is one of the catchphrases we hear of what is sometimes called moralistic therapeutic deism. The idea is that 1) God wants us to be nice to others and 2) He wants us to be happy.\u00a0For the most part, God is seen as deistic, not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/happiness-184x300.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":95196,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-gods-will-for-me-part-4-making-a-decision\/","url_meta":{"origin":85507,"position":2},"title":"What is God\u2019s Will for Me? Part 4: Making a Decision","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 21, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Proverbs 16:1-9 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What makes a decision a good one? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Is every decision a moral choice? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Should I have chocolate or strawberry ice cream? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How do I tell when a choice is personal and when it is moral? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jesus said that all of God\u2019s laws\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36862,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-choose-a-college\/","url_meta":{"origin":85507,"position":3},"title":"How do I choose a college?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How do I know if I'm on the path God wants me to be on? I've been praying every night for a sign of where to go and what to pursue. I've looked into other colleges before but they've never worked out. It doesn't surprise me though, I never\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93605,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/modern-urban-digital\/","url_meta":{"origin":85507,"position":4},"title":"Modern, Urban, Digital","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gary Henry via WordPoints.com \"I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one\" (John 17:15). We might wish we'd been born in another world, but that choice is not ours. What we've got is what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89220,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-get-along-just-as-well-without-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":85507,"position":5},"title":"Can We Get Along Just as Well Without It?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson What if God gave us a choice of plans of salvation? Option A is the church plan. Option B is the non-church plan. In other words, if you want to be a part of the church, fine, but if you'd rather get to heaven without the church,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85507\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}