At a late stage of the military conquest of parts of the Holy Land under the leadership of Joshua, this general spoke to the gathered tribes at Shechem. (Jos 24:1-18) He presented to them a choice: either worship the local pagan gods or worship the Lord God. Then Joshua affirmed: “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” The people made this same choice acclaiming the God who rescued them from Egypt and slavery. Would that they had kept to that pledge, since the pages of Scripture are filled with their falling easily onto the other path.

Clearly, this decision must be made or at least reaffirmed from day to day. In fact, the people had already made this commitment to Moses on the other side of the Jordan. (Dt 29-30) After recalling all that God had done for Israel, Moses called on his followers to choose. He particularly warned them about the curse which would fall on those who turn to other gods. 

Moses concluded: “See, I have today set before you life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I am giving you today … you will live and grow numerous, and the Lord, your God, will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. If, however, your hearts turn away and you do not obey, but are led astray and bow down to other gods and serve them, I tell you today that you will certainly perish. …. I call heaven and earth today to witness against you. I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live …” (Dt 30:15-19)

It was this promise that Joshua sought to renew and reaffirm. 

There are always consequences to our false actions, to our sins. We tend to skip over these in our lives simply ascribing them as downturns. We deem them not worth spending much time for reflection. Yet, this lack of serious examination of our lives usually prevents us from making a renewed effort to reform and follow the way of life.

The prophets, especially those at the time of the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel and the serious threats against the southern Kingdom of Judah, tried to awaken the people to the importance of reform. My favorite is Jeremiah, who continually encountered resistance to his calls as we see here: “And now, tell this to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am fashioning evil against you and making a plan. Return, all of you, from your evil way; reform your ways and your deeds. But they will say, ‘No use! We will follow our own devices; each one of us will behave according to the stubbornness of our evil hearts!’” (Jer 18:11-12). Sure enough, that way led to death and the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and its temple by the Babylonians.

We need these sentinels to remind us of the daily choice we must make.

The Proverbs of Solomon say that this choice of the right way is the result of seeking after wisdom, seeking to know the ways of God. The author states that “He [God] has success in store for the upright, is the shield of those who walk honestly, guarding the paths of justice, protecting the way of his faithful ones, then you will understand what is right and just, what is fair, every good path.” (2:7-9)

The writers of Wisdom literature know that we cannot always choose the right path on our own. We do need to desire God, to desire his wisdom, to seek it with all that we are. That in itself is a choice for the way of life.

It is this seeking the Lord and his wisdom that are sung in Psalm 25: “Make known to me your ways, Lord; teach me your paths. … For you I wait all the day long. …. Good and upright is the Lord, therefore he shows sinners the way. … Who is the one who fears the Lord? God shows him the way he should choose.” (Ps 25: 4, 5, 8-10, 12)

The choice then seems obvious to us. But we also know that it is not an easy choice. As I mentioned earlier, it is easier to make no choice, but in doing so we really are deciding to walk the path of darkness.

This season of Advent and Christmas reminds us that the sole reason why we have the opportunity to choose life and light is because of the coming of Jesus Christ as the child in the manger. It is through his coming that the darkness is driven back and new life is offered to us through our baptism. In this season of the year, I wish you and your family a blessed Advent, a happy Christmas, and a New Year that prospers us in body, mind, and spirit. God bless you.