We can say, “He (She) has made his (her) choice.” In saying it this way we are describing a finality, a breaking point, a closing brought about by that choice. But it would be nearer to what actually happened to say that he or she made their choice every day. Those daily choices have had the cumulative effect of making this final one. This last choice is being made because those first ones were made. One followed from the other and led here.
Both those who make and are influenced by this last choice are forced to come to grips with and accept it as the culmination, the end, of it all. There is no going back from here, only forward.
With every choice there was a growing indifference towards the person chosen against or ignored in the choosing. Love and hatred never remain indifferent. “Hatred stirs up strife but love covers all offenses.” (Proverbs 10:12) But indifference can’t be bothered; it’s neither provoked nor inspired. Indifference is worse than all, because it is the hardening of the clay, the freezing over of the lake, the shutting of the prison door and, then, pitch darkness. One simply doesn’t care any longer.
So watch over your caring, watch over your choosing.
“One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,” sang the Psalmist (Psalm 27:4). It is not a singular or one time petition for this one thing, but the daily petition driven by this one thing. It is seeking “all the days of my life” today. It is asking for and pursuing today what you want every day throughout all of your days.
Or put another way, it is choosing what you want, and who you want to be, tomorrow today. Do you want to be forgiving tomorrow? Forgive today. Do you want to be generous tomorrow? Give today. Do you want to be loving and sacrificial tomorrow? Love and sacrifice today. Do you want to be caring and patient tomorrow? Care and be patient today. Do you want to be kind and faithful tomorrow? Be kind and faithful today.
Do we see it, though? We can only be kind through kindness. We can only be patient through patience. “(T)rough love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13). If you find yourself being or becoming indifferent, it is because there is a lack of love (and all that flows from it) in your heart. But where does one “get” love? Can one purchase it or make it or borrow it? It is found only at its source.
God is love (1 John 4:8), and it is through His Son, Jesus, that we find a love that is anything but indifferent: it softens the hardest attitude, warms the coldest heart, breaks down the prison door, shines through the deepest darkness. It is a love that forgives and covers our sin; that makes us into a new creation and gives us new life; that is patient and kind in every circumstance; that cares for and serves all people; that sacrifices and gives all things— a love that is freely poured out into our hearts (Romans 5:5), if only we will ask and receive. And if we do, it marks a new beginning.