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I am using the YouVersion 49 Week Bible Challenge for these devotions. Today’s readings are Matthew 4; Psalm 91; Isaiah 9; 1 Chronicles 21. In today’s readings, do you notice a promise to trust, a command to obey, a truth to embrace, a warning to heed, or an encouragement to rest in? What do you learn about God, about yourself, or about the world? Is there one verse or thought that stands out to you today? Talk to God about it.
1 Chronicles 21:7-13
But God was displeased with this thing [David’s act of taking a census], and he struck Israel. 8 And David said to God, “I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” 9 And the LORD spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying, 10 “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the LORD, Three things I offer you; choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” 11 So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Choose what you will: 12 either three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the LORD, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” 13 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
“Would you Rather” is a popular conversation and party game where players are presented with two options and must choose which one they would prefer—even if both choices are difficult, funny, awkward, or thought-provoking. It’s a game of decision-making, used to spark discussion, reveal preferences, or just break the ice. [Thanks Chat GpT, for that summary.] Here are a few of my own forced choices.
- Would you rather spend a winter in Siberia or a summer in Death Valley?
- Would you rather eat only sardines for dinner or skip dinner every day for the rest of your life?”
- Would you rather do nothing but watch paint dry for a week or zip line across the Grand Canyon?
Contrast that, however, with the choice given David when he had to choose between three difficult options on account of his faithless act of taking a census of his fighting men.
So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Choose what you will: 12 either three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the LORD, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.”
David, remarkably chooses the third option, willingly choosing to be visited by the sword and angel of the LORD. I realize it is a three-day experience of God’s brutal punishment as compared to three months or three years. But still, the Lord is a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24; Hebrews 12:29). So why put yourself in the way of his retribution? In spite of it all, David concludes, “Let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for his mercy is very great.”
So, would you rather…
…spend your life in a dead-end job or follow Jesus in a totally new calling? Peter and Andrew chose to follow Jesus to become fishers of men. – Matthew 4:18-20
…give a second hand gift to God, or give him the first fruits of your bounty – at great personal cost? David’s choice was the latter: “I will not take for the LORD what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” – 1 Chronicles 21:24
Our choices may not always be as true and good. But God’s choices are pure and good.
Rather than letting us walk in darkness, he chose to shine the light of his salvation on us. – Isaiah 9:2
God chose to send his Son, and put all things under he who is the Wonderful Counselor and Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:7
Jesus chose not to give in to Satan’s temptations for bread, fame, or ease of life, but to obey God’s commands and live according to his values. – Matthew 4:4-10
We don’t really have a choice. Jesus makes it clear, “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
So in a world of “Would You Rather?” choices, we rest in the astonishing truth that God has already made the most important choice: he would rather die than lose us forever. He would rather redeem than condemn. He would rather seek and save than leave us in the dark. He has chosen us to live and serve with joy under the reign and rule of the one who chose us first.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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