“The Lord created us humans, and from the very beginning, he gave us the ability to choose how we live.
You are able to obey his Law if you really want to, and you can please him by being faithful.
Life and death are as different as fire and water, and the Lord will give you whichever you choose.” – Sirach 15:14-17 CEV
The passage above really brings out the importance of our free-will /choice/ to love, serve, and obey the LORD. Joshua (Moses’ successor) also talked about our choice to serve the LORD when he confronted the people of Israel:
“‘Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then /choose/ for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.
But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.'” – Joshua 24:14-15 NIV
So we are all given a choice: to serve the LORD or to serve sin (and ultimately the devil).
As Bob Dylan wrote:
“You’re gonna have to serve somebody — it may be the devil, and it may be the Lord — but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.”
Choose today — who are you going to serve?