We recently heard a story about a faculty meeting that occurred at a university some years ago. The professor of archaeology had just returned from a dig in the Middle East where many rare treasures had been unearthed. He rose to address his colleagues.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “I have brought one fascinating artifact from my recent horde of finds to show you today. It is most intriguing because an ancient legend is attached to it.” Then he lifted a lamp for the faculty members to see. “This lamp,” he continued, “is reported to contain a genie that will grant a wish to the one who summons it.”
To everyone one’s surprise, the dean darted out his hand, grabbed the lamp from the professor, and rubbed it. Sure enough, a puff of smoke emerged from the lamp followed by an imposing genie who said to the dean, “I offer you a choice from among three options. You may choose wealth, wisdom or beauty. Which do you choose?”
Without hesitation the dean replied, “I will take wisdom.” “Done!” bellowed the genie before disappearing with a bolt of lightning.
The startled faculty members gazed wonderingly at the dean, and one of them summoned the courage to say, “Dean, please speak to us. What wise insight can you offer us?” The dean thought a moment and then responded, “I should have taken the money.”
Choices. We make hundreds of them every day. Most are fairly trivial – cereal or eggs for breakfast, the red shirt or the blue, go out to a movie or stay home to watch television. We don’t agonize over these decisions because their significance to our lives seems so small.
But there are other decisions we make, sometimes with as little forethought, which have tremendous impact upon our lives and our futures. We choose a career path, a spouse, a place to live. We choose values, we claim allegiances, we determine our direction. These choices can be momentous, can’t they? The outcome of such life choices may leave us satisfied, pleased and proud – or discouraged, humbled and disappointed. What makes the difference? Can we find a way to unerringly choose what will result in a positive outcome instead of a negative one?
There’s an ancient biblical story from the Book of Deuteronomy about Moses leading his people to the Promised Land but stopping them one day with a challenge. He turned and confronted them with these words: “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, that you and your children may live.”
Seems like an easy one, doesn’t it? Who would fail to make the right choice? And yet, Moses’ people had often made choices that were not life-giving and life-sustaining. And can’t we understand that?
We’ve made bad choices, too. Sometimes our poor choices are motivated by selfishness or arrogance. Sometimes they are the result of ignorance or indifference. But we’ve all known that sinking realization that comes in knowing, somewhere down the road, that the choice we made was the wrong one.
As Moses counsels his people in their choice-making habits, he offers advice none of us should ignore. It’s advice that is likely to consistently steer every decision-maker in the most life-affirming direction. He simply suggests this: that the people listen for God’s voice and hold fast to God.
Whose advice do you seek when decisions loom before you? Who has your ear?