December 13, 2023 — The Choices You Make, Make You

“He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac” Genesis 22:1-3

‘Every time you make a choice you are turning the central point of you, the part…that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or a hellish creature.”’ C. S. Lewis

Life is about choices. Every day we will have to make choices like it or not. We need to decide what to eat, what to wear and what to drive – and that is just before we leave the house. We always hope that the choices we make will be guided by wisdom and experience, but that cannot always be the case. Legendary basketball coach John Wooden said, “There’s a choice you have to make in everything you do. So keep in mind that in the end, the choice you make, makes you.”

Over the course of a lifetime, the choices we make will define the kind of person we have become. This was true with Abraham in the enigmatic story of the “Akedah”, or the Binding of Isaac. Abraham had a choice to make – listen to G-d and sacrifice his only son, his son of the Promise, or not. What would you have done – what choice would you have made? Soren Kierkegaard, in his book “Fear and Trembling” says this about Abraham: “The ethical expression for what Abraham did is that he was willing to murder Isaac; the religious expression is that he was willing to sacrifice Isaac; but in this contradiction lies the very anguish that can indeed make one sleepless…”

Abraham was a G-d-fearing man – Abraham loved Isaac. And so he climbed that mountain with one task in mind – he was going to sacrifice Isaac. But as we know, G-d would intervene.

Today, you will have many choices. How will you spend some money today? How will you help someone today? Where will you see G-d active in your life? Will you take the time to show your neighbor you love them? Remember the choices you make every day, make you.

Pastor Dave