“Choose Wisely” (01/25/2026)

This morning as I stood at my kitchen counter to pour my cup of coffee for my morning prayer on the porch, I noticed the blotchy banana and the bag of skittles. I giggled to myself, thinking of the choices I was sure a dozen key people in my life would make including myself. And suddenly I remembered the ancient knight’s words in the movie “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” – “Choose wisely.”

And I took that image and that thought with me to the porch. “Choose wisely.” Now some would think my recall of the movie scene prompted by the banana and skittles was coincidental, but I believe it was providential. You see, I give the LORD a lot of credit for the unexpected. He gave me a brain to connect the dots He puts before me, to make sense of my day, my life, my challenges, my surroundings.

I remember my youth and the discovery of choice. It was a powerful moment when I realized that I could choose to turn left or right, to close my eyes or open them, to stay out of the candy jar or not. And my parents tried to train me after my discovery that choices have consequences. Overall, considering the amount of time I spent on the bench by the dryer in time out, I’d say they made their point. I’m still pretty deliberate about my choices.

Choice is a gift the LORD gave to us, it is the exercise of our free will. Many have no ill consequences like choosing the pace of our steps, but most, like choosing where our steps will take us, do have consequences, good or bad. The LORD knows and the LORD tried to teach us from the very beginning. Moses summed it up well, “Choose life by loving the LORD, your God, obeying His voice and holding fast to him.” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

As we begin a new week, loving the LORD and walking in the footsteps of our Savior, let us remember that Jesus Christ chose us. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (John 15:16) Let us ask for the gift of the Spirit to guide us in our choices in the name of Jesus. Let us seek to choose wisely this day and all days for love of our LORD and one another.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.