Making a Choice

    We’ve all faced them.... You are standing in line at Universal Studios and the sign says “Children 9 and younger” get in at a reduced price.  Your daughter just turned 10.  What do you do?  It’s the middle of the night and you pull up to a red light.  You look left, right... nobody.   In fact, there are no headlights to be found anywhere...other than yours.  What do you do?  Run the light or stay put?  Too much change at a convenience store?   An extra zero on your tax return?   

     Our reputation is based on choices such as these.  What may seem like small decisions here or there actually determine many things.  How do we see ourselves?  Are we comfortable with past choices, our morality, or our closeness to God based on what we’ve decided in the past?  How do others see us?  What is our reputation around people that we partner with throughout the day?  Do we set the example... or are we swayed by the popular or selfish thing to do?

Scripture talks about this in the book of Daniel… 

“Then King Darius sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world:

   “Peace and prosperity to you!

“I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel.

   For he is the living God,
      and he will endure forever.
   His kingdom will never be destroyed,
      and his rule will never end.”   -  Daniel 6:25-26

Daniel was an advisor to King Darius of the Persians and had an airtight reputation.  Many of the nobles under the king spent a lot of time trying to find flaws in Daniel’s decision making... did he ever compromise what he knew to be right?  Was he disloyal?  Was he reflecting his God or himself?  Did he make the right decision regardless of the cost or did he sell out to selfishness?  They were convinced that Daniel’s reputation couldn’t be that spotless... 

But it was. In fact, King Darius was so impressed with Daniel that he declared to all of his people that they should serve Daniel’s God!  Daniel’s reputation for doing the right thing at all times reflected God’s character!   His choices weren’t always easy...and they cost him in many ways... but he knew that to be a person who honored God, he had to do so in all areas of his life.  You will have many decisions today... and many chances to reflect God in the way you handle them.  Tread with wisdom.  What you choose to do in the small things adds up...and the way others see you (and God) is affected.  

Good Choice

The story has been told of a shoe salesman who was sent to Africa.  He was there a couple of weeks and quickly became frustrated.  His first letter back to his company read... “Please bring me home, nobody wears shoes over here.”  So the shoe company did just that.  Soon after, they sent a second salesman.  Same people.  Same situation.  The new salesman wrote a letter too... His said “Please send all the shoes you can, nobody wears shoes over here.”

Spot the difference?

Same situation.  Same shoes.  Different viewpoints.  One saw futility while the other... opportunity.  The first missed out on making a difference and his replacement changed the paradigm.

The second man had a choice and seized his opportunity.  

Have you ever kicked yourself for missing a chance that could have made a difference in life?  One decision that could have altered your course in a positive way?

Jesus’ disciples did.  The night He was betrayed, Christ asked His closest friends to stay awake and stand watch while He prayed... Here’s the result:

“Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, ‘Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour?   Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”  Matthew 26:40-41

They didn’t seize the opportunity that Jesus gave them.  They had a chance to be obedient and slept through it.  

I think we’d be amazed at how many chances per day we get to make effective and Godly decisions.  From what we eat, to how we interact with others, to our attitude when things get difficult.... we are presented with countless occasions to honor God with our choices.  

So many of us want our situation to change.  We try to bargain for miracles... we wish things were different... we hope God will come through.  We want different life results while making the same old decisions.   We want things to be different but we either aren’t ready or can’t execute on the God-given opportunity to make it that way.  

Some make the wrong choices and expect God to do it all.  

“Maybe He will make a deal with me and things will change.  I’ll be good so He will bless me anyway!”

“Maybe if I close my eyes and blow out the candles... God will grant my wish and my reality will change.”

“Maybe God will see that I want to change and hopefully do the work for me.”

Change doesn’t come from any of these... it comes from being ready and choosing to seize opportunity.  In his book, Visioneering, Andy Stanley says, “We don’t need to pray for more miracles, we just need to be more sensitive to the opportunities that God brings our way.”

What does this mean?

We want our friendships to get deeper yet we continue to choose close friends who don’t share our same convictions.  

We want our finances to change but we refuse to move ourselves (through obedience in tithing) to where He is already pouring out His blessings.

We want our children to have integrity but when people call the house we tell them to tell the caller that we aren’t home.

We want our spouse to be the man/woman of our dreams yet refuse to trust, communicate, or honor in the home ourselves.  

We want God to bless us, but when given the opportunity, we aren’t obedient to what He says in His word.

Time and time again, God gives us chances to make good decisions, be obedient, and grow... to change the world... to change ourselves.  

Are we squandering them?  Are we telling God to send us home and we’ll stay the same?  Or send shoes and we can change things?  What opportunity do you have in front of you that you’ve been hesitant to act on?   It may not be the easiest thing to do... but it will impact your life in a positive way... 

What choice can you make right now that will change you and affect the world around you?

A deeper prayer life?

Breaking a habit?

Reading your Bible more?

Getting baptized?

Figure out what opportunity God is giving you... and be bold enough to seize it.   Commit to moving forward in what you know He is leading you to do.  Be a world changer... proactive... growing in your boldness to do what you know you’ve been called to.  

Life is full of choices... I’ll be praying for you as you seek God’s guidance in the opportunities that are in front of you.

The Right Choice

At the end of the Civil War, President Lincoln was asked how he was going to treat Southerners when they returned to the Union. The questioner expected that Lincoln would be bitter... vengeful... certainly he would make them earn their way back in... His answer... "I will treat them as if they had never been away."

An unusual response.  After all, the Southerners that had seceded from the Union had killed thousands of northern soldiers... destroyed property... and seemed to support everything the North had fought to change.  Why wouldn’t Lincoln make them pay?  Why didn’t the president seek to even the score... make them come crawling back... cause them to suffer for what they had done?  History wouldn’t have blamed him, right?

Why didn’t Lincoln do these things?  Because he understood the truth as told in Romans 12:17-21

“Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

This is one of those passages of scripture that many like to read quickly and move on.  After all, look at the list of what God tells us to do... 

Repay evil with good...

Do what’s honorable when the other person hasn’t been honorable...

Live peaceably with others when they don’t deserve it...

Don’t seek revenge...

Be kind to our enemies...

How?  Why?  Doesn’t seem fair does it.   The world screams to get even... and God says don’t.  Our friends tell us to make them pay... and God says “Trust Me, I’ll take care of it.”  Why would anyone follow these directives?  Why would anybody treat people better than they were treated?  Why would someone give up their right to settle things their own way?

Simple.  Because that’s what Christ did.  Sinless Christ.  The King of Kings.  All man... all God... perfect and unblemished.  He climbed up and let His own creation nail Him to a cross... pierce His side with a spear... put a crown of ragged thorns on His head… And as people mocked and spit at Him.... He was forgiving those doing it before the saliva could even dry.  So much injustice... so much undeserved hatred toward the Son of God...

Met with so much love.  Jesus chose to show compassion and forgive.  Why should we waive our right at revenge?  Because Christ did.

I can imagine your thoughts as you read this....  Pastor, you don’t know what they did.  If I treat them this way...they win, don’t they?  If I turn the other cheek...they’ll just hit me on that one too....Jesus didn’t say it would be easy...  But real growth...real faith... real and long lasting change never is.  Resist the urge to dismiss these verses as impossible.  Don’t give in to the enemy telling you that this doesn’t apply...  doing the Godly thing is rarely popular or easy...

However, it is obedient.  It is blessable.  And it is always the right choice...  

What Choice Do You Have?

The story has been told of a shoe salesman who was sent to Africa.  He was there a couple of weeks and quickly became frustrated.  His first letter back to his company read... “Please bring me home, nobody wears shoes over here.”  So the shoe company did just that.  Soon after, they sent a second salesman.  Same people.  Same situation.  The new salesman wrote a letter too... His said “Please send all the shoes you can, nobody wears shoes over here.”

Spot the difference?

Same situation.  Same shoes.  Different viewpoints.  One saw futility while the other... opportunity.  The first missed out on making a difference and his replacement changed the paradigm.

The second man had a choice and seized his opportunity.  

Have you ever kicked yourself for missing a chance that could have made a difference in life?  One decision that could have altered your course in a positive way?

Jesus’ disciples did.  The night He was betrayed, Christ asked His closest friends to stay awake and stand watch while He prayed... Here’s the result:

“Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, ‘Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour?   Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”  Matthew 26:40-41

They didn’t seize the opportunity that Jesus gave them.  They had a chance to be obedient and slept through it.  

I think we’d be amazed at how many chances per day we get to make effective and Godly decisions.  From what we eat, to how we interact with others, to our attitude when things get difficult.... we are presented with countless occasions to honor God with our choices.  

So many of us want our situation to change.  We try to bargain for miracles... we wish things were different... we hope God will come through.  We want different life results while making the same old decisions.   We want things to be different but we either aren’t ready or can’t execute on the God-given opportunity to make it that way.  

Some make the wrong choices and expect God to do it all.  

“Maybe He will make a deal with me and things will change.  I’ll be good so He will bless me anyway!”

“Maybe if I close my eyes and blow out the candles... God will grant my wish and my reality will change.”

“Maybe God will see that I want to change and hopefully do the work for me.”

Change doesn’t come from any of these... it comes from being ready and choosing to seize opportunity.  In his book, Visioneering, Andy Stanley says, “We don’t need to pray for more miracles, we just need to be more sensitive to the opportunities that God brings our way.”

What does this mean?

We want our friendships to get deeper yet we continue to choose close friends who don’t share our same convictions.  

We want our finances to change but we refuse to move ourselves (through obedience in tithing) to where He is already pouring out His blessings.

We want our children to have integrity but when people call the house we tell them to tell the caller that we aren’t home.

We want our spouse to be the man/woman of our dreams yet refuse to trust, communicate, or honor in the home ourselves.  

We want God to bless us, but when given the opportunity, we aren’t obedient to what He says in His word.

Time and time again, God gives us chances to make good decisions, be obedient, and grow... to change the world... to change ourselves.  

Are we squandering them?  Are we telling God to send us home and we’ll stay the same?  Or send shoes and we can change things?  What opportunity do you have in front of you that you’ve been hesitant to act on?   It may not be the easiest thing to do... but it will impact your life in a positive way... 

What choice can you make right now that will change you and affect the world around you?

A deeper prayer life?

Breaking a habit?

Reading your Bible more?

Getting baptized?

Figure out what opportunity God is giving you... and be bold enough to seize it.   Commit to moving forward in what you know He is leading you to do.  Be a world changer... proactive... growing in your boldness to do what you know you’ve been called to.  

Life is full of choices... I’ll be praying for you as you seek God’s guidance in the opportunities that are in front of you.