Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim

For it was grassy and wanted wear,

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

Both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden back.

Oh, I saved the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

The above poem by Robert Frost, entitled “The Road Not Taken” gives me an illustration of Joshua_1:16. “Whatever you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.” The author of Joshua tells us the Israelites’ decision to follow God’s chosen leader for them. They were choosing good over evil, God over Satan. Really , that’s a choice that we all have to make, and Frost’s poem describes his thoughts as he makes that choice. I’ve learned three rules about our choice through this poem: We can only choose one option; we must choose now; and we must choose for eternity. 

As we’ve seen, there are two options in this choice: God or Satan. We can only choose one, or as Frost says, we can only travel one path. In Matthew_6:24, Jesus tells us we cannot serve two masters. While we, like Frost, may wish to be ‘one traveler’ and try both ways, it is just not possible. 

Our choice is between heaven and hell. The paths that reach them are very different. “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.” Matthew_12:30. God will not accept you if you do not wholeheartedly serve Him, and anyone who is in Satan’s service is nowhere near the narrow road. We can only take one path. 

Next, the choice has to be made now. In Joshua’s farewell speech, he tells the Israelites to ‘choose that day whom they will serve.’ There is a fork in the road of our lives when we make a choice, but we cannot stand there. 

In Matthew_8, a scribe tells Jesus very much the same statement that the Israelites gave Joshua. In verse 19 the scribe says, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” However, another man that talked to Jesus that day seemed to have problems making his choice immediately. He pretty much said, “Lord, can I go about my own life and come back to you later?” Jesus says, “No.” It is dangerous to procrastinate in our decision, for we don’t know the day or the hour when the Son of Man will return, according to Matthew_24:36. We must choose now. Deuteronomy_30:19. “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; Therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” 

Finally, we must choose for Eternity. As Frost so aptly describes it, “knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back”. Really, many people never do come back to that choice. What I choose now is likely going to be my choice for eternity. If we choose God, as the Israelites did in Joshua 1, we will not want to come back. If we choose Satan, he will lead us farther and farther away from God. 

Our choice is eternal, because it has eternal consequences. As we know from Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus, there is a great gulf between heaven and hell. Once we enter into eternity, we cannot alter the choice we made. Jeremiah 21:8. “Now you shall say to this people, ‘Thus says the lord: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death’.” I hope you  have enjoyed looking at Joshua_1:16 through Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken.” I know I enjoyed preparing this lesson, using my favorite poem. I learned that in my choice of paths, I have to choose one option, right now, and forever. Relying on God, I know I can make the right choice. As Colossians_2:3 says, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Jesus Christ. Let’s follow God where He leads, down the road less traveled. 

© Tori Willis