I recently set up a poll in a Facebook group. I had a specific reason for asking what I did, and intentionally only offered two options. It was an either/or poll, a this/or that question, which I thought I made clear in the post text. Within minutes, two more options had been added by other group members, options that had zero connection to my actual question, and people were choosing them.
I’m pretty laid back, but this bugged me. By adding those other two options, the participants completely negated the whole purpose of the post where I was concerned. I even stopped going back to look at it because, honestly, there was nothing I felt I could do to redeem it. Their messing up my plan irked me and, yes, I dwelt on my frustration for a bit. But then, as I calmed myself down, I heard God whispering, and saw something that had never really been clear to me before.
The fact is this refusal to admit that some situations offer limited choices is a huge part of our problem in society today. We now live in a world where it is virtually unacceptable to ask either/or questions, to give only two options.
Male or female?
No, I want to be something else.
Married or single?
No, I want a committed relationship without a marriage covenant.
One spouse?
Are you crazy? I want more.
Good or evil?
No, I make my own rules and I serve neither good nor evil.
Saved or lost?
Nah uh, there is no Heaven or Hell and I’m going to be reincarnated.
We live in a world where it would seem
that black and white are disappearing,
leaving us with nothing but gray.
But it’s not true. Bearing eternity in mind, there is no gray. There is no fence that we can be on. No matter how hard we try to convince ourselves that we can live by our own rules instead of God’s, His rules still apply. He is still the One on the throne. He still has final say.
Those people who botched my poll by adding their own answers that had nothing to do with my question frustrated me, but they didn’t really hurt anyone. The people who try to add more options to God’s list, however? They are creating eternal problems, and not just for themselves.
“Choose you this day whom you will serve…”
Joshua 24:15
Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C