“Now
therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put
away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve
the Lord. And
if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will
serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or
the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house,
we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:14-15 ESV).
It
is repeated in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. It is a simple concept that gets lost in
Theological Dogma and debate when the treatise involves the element of choice
or free will. Yet Joshua spoke of it at the end of his life as something those
that he led must decide and Moses left this decision before the Israelites ever
went into the “Promised Land” (Deuteronomy 30:19). Jesus spoke of there being two roads and two
gates (Matthew 7:13-14). In addition to
Scripture, one of the earliest Christian writings (The Didache) attested to by
the Patristic Church Fathers, lost for centuries and found in the 1800’s also
gave reference as well to the concept of there being “Two Ways” in our
lives. There are two ways in life and we
in fact choose one of the two ways as we live out our days.
In
addition to the Biblical concept of choosing a way, we also know if we are
honest in our self- awareness that we all make choices in our lives. We do
choose major pathways in our lives as to the course of direction we will go and
we all make daily decisions that reflect that course of direction and our
desire to follow God or choose our own way.
In fact in every action and deed, we reflect the way we are following. We
don’t like to think of the choices as being a matter of life or death but they
are in many ways. Which way are you
traveling?
“There are two ways: one of life and one of death; and
the difference between the two ways is great. The way of life is this: first,
you should love God, who made you; secondly, love your neighbor as yourself;
and whatever things you do not desire to be done to you, do not do them to
someone else” (1:1-2 The Didache-The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles).
Suggested Reading … Joshua 24.
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