The choice is still up to you.
The story is told of the relationship between God and His people.
In that story there was a phase when they accepted Him as their King and accepted a number of judges appointed for disputes both internally and when faced with external opposition. The people reached a point, however, where they didn’t want to accept that way of operating and so they wanted to have a king like their neighbours.
When they got a king like everyone else, there was an initial stumbling phase of a king who started well and ended terribly. Then they had the standard by which they would measure every other king by. Yet it was the son who would succeed him that ushered in a new phase of the nation’s identity. For with King Solomon, Israel sought to become a major player in their world. Through peace treaties, marriages and the exhibition of great wisdom, Solomon set up a glorious temple as a physical structure declaring the greatness of the God they served and as well as that a massive palace that likewise reflected the magnitude of the monarch.
That economic and social development, however, came at a cost to the people’s identity. The nation had no problem conscripting others to slavery. The nation had no issue either subjecting itself to the sort of workload that marked out even clearer the prosperous and those at the servitude of the king.
The treatment of the poor would perpetually be an issue that plagued the nation all because of the choice the nation made as they changed. The choice they made through their preference for a king than the King. The choice they made and would be made through successive kings of varying degrees of faithfulness to God.
When the King made His appearance in fulfilment to the promise He had made, the people misunderstood what His rule was about. Previously He had a choice to rule as His Father had decreed Him to rule or gain a mirage of glory by bowing down to the prince of the world. His love for His Father lead Him to reject the adversary’s offer. The rule He was coming to inaugurate was one that reflected a far greater glory than even Solomon was able to muster. A glory as well that did not require people to pursue a building project that would subject them to servitude that left a schism between the haves and the have nots. A glory reflecting the rule of this King marked out by meekness, humility, compassion and the overwhelming desire to please His Father by completing the mission to the point of the cross.
In the light of that great change, a choice was offered not just to the nation of Israel, but to all humanity. A choice we face whenever there’s a great storm brewed because of political machinations on earth. A choice we face whenever there’s a tug towards being like the neighbours around looking for a certain way of ruling. A choice we face even in the crisis at home whether with finances, relationships or any other issue we bring up. A choice to be like the rest, or to become like the one who brings about a great change.
Even making a commitment to follow this King, there are always occasions and opportunities where we choose. And our choices can reflect the change to the light, or to ignore it.
The choice is still up to you.
(Photo by Justin Luebke on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 