Life Is A Choice

𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝟏𝟔, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏: 𝐀𝐜 𝟓:𝟐𝟕-𝟑𝟑

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟑𝟒:𝟐-𝟗, 𝟏𝟕-𝟐𝟎 “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟑:𝟑𝟏-𝟑𝟔

𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞: “𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐧

𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.” (𝐯.𝟑𝟔) 

           Many of us who were growing up were fascinated by a poem in our literature class in high school titled “Invictus” which was written by poet William Ernest Henley. What struck most of us and many in fact subscribed to it on their way to charting their paths into the future were the words: “𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭.”

           Indeed, we cannot count the number of those who have found success in their respective fields of study believing their success were on account of their own talents, gifts, status in life, circumstances. Very few would give credit to the one true source of their talents and skills.

           Let us go back to the most quoted lines in that poem that begin with the words "𝐈 𝐚𝐦." Without being presumptuous allow me to venture a guess. Though I cannot second guess what the poet’s real intention was in using these two words and I also am not privy of poet Henley’s religiosity but there could have been a chance that a supernatural spirit guided the poet to include those two words in his poem.

           It could not just be happenstance that we find those words "𝐈 𝐚𝐦" in that poem because those two words are sacred in that it bears reference to the supreme being who is the source of everything we have and possess as he is also the prime mover of everything that exists in the universe.

           Life is filled with and surrounded by choices. The moment we wake up there are already choices we need to make. The food that we eat, the clothes we wear, the places we go to, the people whom we choose to meet, and even our going to church has become a choice and not something that is part of our lives.

            To take it to another extreme, what would you do if you are confronted with a situation in which you are to make a choice that has eternal consequences such as life or death, what would you do? Will you remain passive and ignore it? Are you going to vacillate and perhaps the situation will disappear? Or will you gather all the courage at your disposal and face the issue head-on?

           This is the choice Jesus is asking us to make today for in our hands lies our future and this is what I have been trying to impress upon those who attend the teachings and or talks that I facilitate – that our future is now.

          Most people tend to look at the future as an event or something that is yet to happen. That may be true, but the future is shaped by the things that we do today. Today was yesterday’s future and today will become the yesterday when we wake up tomorrow which is the future of today. What if we choose not to make a choice and we don’t wake up tomorrow or today’s future?

          And if today many are confused with their current state in life and the future before them it is because of the choices they made. The health profession is a case in point.

Take for example many of our Filipino doctors who labored through a 10-year medicine course in college and whose medical practice leave much to be desired and have opted to take another two-year nursing course just so they could work abroad not as a physician but as a nurse.

          The question – was this the future that they prepared for? Did not these Filipino doctors prepare for the medical profession? While they may be reaping the benefits of working as a nurse in foreign shores, the question is are they happy at the way their future turned out? After all, life is not all about dollars and cents. There is a higher stake in every decision that we make and in the case of overseas workers it is the family bond that is being sacrificed.

         Conversely, this is the same kind of choice that we are to make with respect to the future of our souls. The choice that Jesus is presenting us in today’s Gospel passage is as clear as the noon-day sky in that those “𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞; 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦.” (𝐯.𝟑𝟔)        

And Jesus doesn’t mince his words when he said that the wrath of God will be upon those who will not obey. In yesterday’s Gospel which is regarded as the most favored text of the Sacred Scriptures, Jesus said: “𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.” (𝐉𝐧 𝟑:𝟏𝟔)

Not only does Jesus speak with authority but there is consistency in what comes out of his lips. What Jesus is impressing upon us is that we shouldn’t find difficulty in obeying God because obedience is the fruit of believing.

         Hence it presupposes that anyone who refuses to walk where Jesus walked is guilty of disobedience and what pains me is when I see people going through the motions of Christian service. And you see them everywhere as they are all over the place doing this, doing that in the Church or Community but they disappear as fast as they came when the going gets tough.

         The beauty of today’s Gospel message is that Jesus has laid down all the necessary information that we will need to come up with the right decision relative to our eternal future and there shouldn’t be any room for doubting what Jesus says because “he who comes from heaven is above all.

He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony; he who receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for it is not by measure that he gives the Spirit; the Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. (𝐯𝐯.𝟑𝟏-𝟑𝟓)

          This simply means that if we need to know our eternal future then all we have to do is go to the person who is in possession of that information and he is no other than Jesus. In the same way, information about a place can be sourced from someone who comes from that place.

          Such that if we want to know about God and His plan for our heavenly future, then we can get it from the Son of God because Jesus alone knows God and he alone can give us the facts about God and these facts are in the Sacred Scriptures. And God is so good that he has infused in us the Holy Spirit who comes to our aid whenever there are things that we want to understand about God.

          All throughout the history of Israel this choice between life and death has been set before the Jews. Moses in 𝐃𝐞𝐮𝐭 𝟑𝟎:𝟏𝟓-𝟐𝟎 spoke of putting before the Israelites a choice between life and death, blessing and curse as Moses implored the Jews to choose life so that their descendants may live. Joshua also reiterated this challenge: “𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞.” (𝐉𝐨𝐬 𝟐𝟒:𝟏𝟓) and this is the choice that we are being asked to make today.

          In other words, true Christians must have the predisposition to lose all traces of who they used to be and who they are now. This is the new birth that Jesus was telling Nicodemus for anyone who lives in the Spirit will be enabled and empowered to recognize and understand God’s truth.

          Being selective in the kind of service that we give to the Lord is equal to being indifferent and hostile to God that will bring death. A true Christian is a person who is always at the crossroads and today we are always confronted with the decision to make a choice, but what really matters is how we react to Christ’s invitation for us to yield our lives to him. And that means listening to what he tells us to do and obeying where he sends us.

How true indeed that a Christian who has yielded his life to God is like giving the Great "𝐈 𝐚𝐦" full control of our lives – the master of our fate and the captain of our souls. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘈𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘭 16, 2026)