Choices are literally the building blocks of a person’s life on earth, and we are our own architects, our lives are basically the sum of many choices added up over the years. They are easy to make but often times most of us don’t consider the effect our choices will have on our lives! Think about it in the realm of Finances, physical health, spiritual health, etc. if we take a quick inventory of these areas we would quickly see that the cause of our troubles can almost always be traced back to bad choices that were made either by us or by loved ones connected to us. I have 3 points that I want to quickly cover on this very serious topic of choices lets jump right into it.
POINT #1- We are responsible for our own choices
See Ezekiel 18 verse 20 "The soul that sins shall die", none of us will stand before God and blame the wickedness of our father as to why we CHOSE to go down the wrong path. None of us will stand before God and glean from the righteousness of big mama and Papa either! In other words, we all have personal responsibility!(Hebrews 9:27) (its appointed for man once to die and after this the judgment) 2nd Corinthians 5:10 ( we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ) Adam shifted the blame to Eve when confronted by God about his sin and the LORD didn’t give him an excuse. Instead he gave him the list of consequences for his wrong choice and he does the same for us. Knowing how critical our choices are and how we alone are responsible for them we should be extra careful to make the right ones…...but how?
POINT #2- Our choices should be filtered through Gods word- Psalms 119:11
the brain is the control center of the body and every decision we make is first conceived in our minds! Our thoughts must be filtered through the word of God, NOT our emotions, friends, media, music, T.V etc. Its really simple Godly thoughts contribute to Godly actions! If we want to live right we have to think right…( proverbs 23:7) as a man thinketh in his heart……….Matthew 6:22 The eye is the lamp of the body, if your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light, Romans 12: don’t conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your MIND…..
POINT #3 our eternity depends on our choices
Matthew 7:13 says enter through the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and many there be who go in it but straight is the way and narrow is the way that leads to life.……..Christ clearly lays out the situation at hand, every man has been given a choice to make when it comes to his salvation. Christ sacrifice on the cross is for all who BELIEVE……..the Thief on the cross who was condemned was no different than the one who believed other than his lack of faith they were both criminals in need of forgiveness, mercy and grace but the believing thief made 3 distinct choices- Luke 23:39 "one of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: Aren’t you the Messiah?, save yourself and us but the other criminal rebuked him saying “ Don’t you fear God? Since you are under the same sentence, we are punished justly for we are getting what our deeds deserve, but this man has done nothing wrong…….remember me in your kingdom." take a closer look at the thief's statements that ultimately pushed the suffering Christ to extend the olive branch of eternal life to him
#1 He confessed his sin before Christ
#2 he acknowledged the person of Jesus and his authority to forgive him.
#3 he received his justification by faith
The criminal could've easily made the CHOICE to be silent as he threw himself a pity party about his wrong actions. Or he could've joined the other guy that was throwing insults at Jesus in a spirit of mockery, strife and bitterness, however even while on his (deathbed) essentially he obtained a salvation that many Pharisees and religious leaders would never grasp and it was all dependent upon the choices he made as he hung next to our Messiah.
take time today to contemplate your decisions with the hope of aligning your life to the will of God! even if you've already made horrible mistakes, you don't have to choose to remain in a horrible situation! God Bless
Comments