Last fall my wife and I received flu shots. Sometime later while talking to my daughter on the phone, I mentioned we had been to the doctor to get flu shots. A young, invincible, 40-year-old, she launched into a parental lecture about how the flu shots are of no value and she never gets them. I wondered why I mentioned it. We’ve had this conversation before. Well, this time she was right. My wife and I got the flu at the worst possible time, Christmas. Seems the disease control people ordered the wrong vaccine, and it really was ineffective.
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A recent story in the news was about vaccines. Despite the advice of medical personnel, many parents choose not to have their children immunized against childhood diseases. Their reasons are based on erroneous information that the vaccines cause other, more serious illnesses. One can only imagine, but there is likely a measure of stubbornness involved as well. We humans dislike being ordered to do things, even if they are right.
Freedom of choice is a precious blessing. Wisdom tells us to gather the facts and then make the best possible choices. Still, even with identical information, we often arrive at different conclusions. Despite his trusted physician’s advice, a man I know refused to have cataract surgery because he knew someone who had it and it was unsuccessful. He refused good intelligent advice but accepted the untrained words of an acquaintance.
The human tendency is to take the advice we want, rather than the advice that is best. Nowhere is that more true than when it comes to spiritual matters. It’s been that way since the beginning of time. Adam and Eve shucked the advice of God for the advice of a snake in the grass. Truth be told, Adam and Eve wanted what they wanted, viz. the fruit of that tree.
If the gravity of a choice is inconsequential, then it does not matter what you choose. But if the gravity of the choice is of serious consequence, then your choice had better be right. No choice is more important than choosing where you will spend your eternal life. God has taken great pains to advise us about that choice. He has even left a book of instructions. For heaven’s sake, take God’s advice for this choice, not the advice of some sneaky snake.