Amidst an unseasonably warm late January afternoon, Minister TL Allen and I sought solace within the cozy confines of a mom-and-pop café in Pelzer, South Carolina. His eyes, etched by seven and a half decades, harbored tales untold.
As our coffee cups cradled in our hands, he leaned back, his voice a gentle cadence, and bequeathed this enduring truth: “Life comes down to our choices, each decision echoing through time. These decisions ripple beyond our own souls, touching the lives of those who walk beside us.” Indeed, life is a symphony of choices.
Psalm 1 underscores the gravity of our choices and their eternal consequences. The opening verse introduces the Hebrew word ashrei, translated as “blessed.”[1] This term signifies supreme happiness or fulfillment.
The righteous person who walks in God’s way experiences this fulfillment by making choices that align with the Word of God. Their life becomes a testament to contentment and alignment with divine truth. Such a person will also not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful.
The righteous person recognizes and avoids ungodly counsel. Instead, they seek godly wisdom, as expressed in God’s testimonies. They are like a tree planted by streams of water, flourishing and bearing fruit. The ungodly, however, are like chaff driven away by the wind—without stability or purpose. Our choices determine whether we flourish like a tree or wither like chaff.
The psalmist invites us to be like the blessed tree, deeply rooted in God’s Word, flourishing and bearing fruit in due season. We should choose the path of righteousness and refrain from the counsel of the wicked, the way of sinners, and the seat of scoffers. This way, our choices will resonate with divine truth, leading us toward fulfillment and contentment.
As you sip your coffee or tea or pause in quiet reflection, consider the litany of choices before you. Make choices that harmonize with God’s Word, leaving a legacy that blesses generations. The canvas awaits your strokes. May they be guided by wisdom, faith, and the eternal promise of supreme fulfillment.
1. James Strong, Strong's Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009), as-re, blessed.
Radice W. Banks is a professor at Hesed Bible Institute in Simpsonville, SC. He has been married to his wife for twenty-six years. They have two sons, Micah and Caleb. He loves reading the Bible and running. Banks is also a faculty member at Urban Divinity School in Greenville SC.