Act well thou part, rather than standing in the fork

.............................."I shall be telling this with as 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"...........................

Is it true that in making a choice that one will be better than the other? Does it follow that one vs's the other "will make all the difference" ? I recently sought council on some choices and was looking hard for the "right" choice.

It seemed to me that choice often goes hand in hand with motive. It helps to consider a presentation about motives found in a book"Pure in Heart" by Dallin Oaks. I reviewed this book on Amazon and it is listed on the list of reviews to the right on this blog under Amazon reviews. In my review I mentioned chapter 3 and the list of 6 reasons for service presented from least to most important. Oaks starts his list with the least useful reason being "Earthly Reward". This is service for the sake of riches and honor. Then then next one begin "Good Companionship" which is a step up but still about self and reward. Then in the middle is "Fear of Punishment" which sort of works but doesn't say much about motive. Then comes "Duty or Loyalty" which is a good motive and one a lot of good soldiers, good people, just follow. The second highest or second best in the list is "Hope of a Reward". This of course is an Eternal Reward because for this to be a good motive it has to be driven by "faith" that eternally it will make a difference and that there even is an eternity. The sixth reason for service is the highest of all. "Charity" is "the pure love of Christ". For our service to be based on charity it must be unconcerned with self and heedless of personal advantage.

So then is making a choice really a fork in the road. It may be if the choice is between good or evil, or not good or good, BUT if the choice is to be best it ought to be one that just seeks to accomplish what the Lord would want for us. The point then is that motive in a choice is going to impact the outcome of the choice. ....................................A friend recently suggested to me that all choices are not between the exact right or wrong course. Sometimes either choice will be ok. That by itself is good council. It helps a lot to know that everything will be ok and that a good motive can enhance those odds. If your motive is to do what the Lord wants you to do then if that motive is sincere then perhaps you will have a net under your choice in case you need it. "He" may not let you fail really if your motive is right. Perhaps along the road less traveled are lots and lots of choices that all would work out fine and along the other road there are also lots and lots of choices and all or those will lead to problems. It seems like one ought to just try to do what right and to do it for the right reason. What E'er-Thou-Art-Act-Well-Thou-Part