Men were created free moral agents, with the power and privilege of choice; and God calls upon them to choose between right and wrong, life and death. "Choose you this day whom you will serve." (Joshua 24:15) "Choose life that both you and your seed may live." (Deuteronomy 30:19)
There is nothing arbitrary about it--everyone is left free to choose as he sees fit, but it makes a great difference what that choice is, for on it hang eternal consequences.
When Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage, (Genesis 25:29-34) he made a choice that he afterward regretted; and even though he sought it with tears, there was no place found for repentance. (Hebrews 12:17)
When the strife between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot became so great that a separation was necessary, Lot was given the first choice; and because the plain of Jordan was "well watered," he chose that, and "pitched his tent toward Sodom." (Genesis 13:12)
His choice was a selfish one, to satisfy present desires; and for a time it appeared outwardly that it was a wise one, so far as worldly success was concerned, but in the end it proved to be the very worst he could have made, as he lost all of his worldly possessions, and escaped from the doomed city only with his life.
Not so with Moses. Although heir to the throne of Egypt, with every possible worldly prospect before him, "He...refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." (Hebrews 11:24-26)
Ah, there is the secret. It is to look beyond the present. The wise man said, "Walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know, that for all these things God will bring you into judgment." (Ecclesiastes 11:9)
So many today are choosing this world, the pleasures and benefits that it can give, but the choice is a poor one, for all the world can give is only transitory and unsatisfactory. But he who chooses the world to come, like Mary, "has chosen that good part which shall not be taken away." (Luke 10:42)--Present Truth, July 6, 1899--Joshua 24:15
E.J. Waggoner