DEVOTION//Hobson's Choice

The gospel is a Hobson's Choice.

Thomas Hobson (1544-1631) gave his name to a situation where a person is offered a choice between taking an option or having nothing.

Hobson was a livery stable owner in Cambridge, England. His customers had the choice of either renting the horse in the stall closest to the stable door or not renting a horse.  Hobson kept 40 horses in his stable. His renting policy was designed to save his best horses from overuse.

This take-it-or-leave-it policy has come to be known as a Hobson's Choice.

The gospel is a Hobson's Choice. All the religions of the world claim to offer a stableful of ways to be right with God. Islam offers its Five Pillars. Buddhism offers a philosophy for living. Hinduism maintains the path to Nirvana is based on recognizing Brahman as the true god and the source of reality.

But the Bible insists that there is only one horse to ride toward holiness and heaven. “There is salvation in no one else [but Jesus], for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

The religions of the world -- and individuals' personally created faith systems -- make it seem that there are many ways to have God's acceptance. But there is only one. It's Jesus. It's Jesus or nothing. It's Jesus who invites us into an exclusive relationship with him. “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life," he says. "No one comes to the Father, except through me" (John 14:6).

The gospel is the ultimate Hobson's Choice.

Thank God he's led you to that choice.

Whom will you introduce to the only name "by which we must be saved"?