There is no way to know what we could achieve in life if we made more of the right choices. Of course, someone a long the line is probably going to ask, “Right choices according to who?” Learning to do a good job of choosing, evidently, is not something we do well as humans, but, if we partner with God, then comes the power to choose wisely.
It would seem that the decision making machine in us to choose seems to follow from one generation to another. Someone’s grandfather chose the path of alcoholism; his son chose the same path, and the father’s children will be met with the same choices: to drink themselves into oblivion, or not. We even have the power to choose whether we are angry or not. The other person didn’t “make” you angry, c’mon, you are choosing anger as your reaction. No one made you jealous, you are choosing, choosing to become circumstantial rather than resting with Jesus, who is seated, ?get that?, seated at the right hand of the Father. He’s at rest. Are you at rest with Him? Consider your choices at your intersections: there are other choices.
Intersections are a fork in the road, so to speak, where a choice must be made. We can sit at that crossroad, intersection however long we like, that too is a choice, but eventually, at some point, we must choose a direction. But sitting at that intersection and not choosing is much a kin to sitting on a fence. It’s only a moment of rest before the indecision concerning our choices becomes increasingly uncomfortable. Fence sitting is inevitably always uncomfortable.
i sat at a light once, more than once, unsure about which way to go, left, right, straight … but when the light changed, there were blaring horns and people yelling. i had to choose, rightly or wrongly, but i had to make a choice. Often our lack of choosing affects everyone around us, just like that traffic light. My indecision caused everyone behind me to be forced to comply with my lack of decision. Volleyball games are often won and lost on one players indecision – in a moment of paralysis about the choice to hit the ball or not, the ball hits the floor, the moment to win or lose is decided for the team due to the lack of decision on the part of one player. Choices are often not easy and have a far reaching impact, and often on more than ourselves.
To my understanding, when coming to a 4-way intersection, there are only 3 choices in life, going back is not an option because that would be like re-making history, and there is nothing in history which would ever allow itself to be relived in order that it could become something other than what it is. But, there is still, in front of us, a choice of left, right, or straight ahead.
God is the God of choices. He came up with the idea of intersections, or choices and it was His idea of our having options and the will to exercise our free will to choose. He brings us to many intersections across the course of life, and one of His goals is to bring us to maturity so we can make good and Godly choices for ourselves, our families, and quite possibly the world around us. Christianity is the only religion which does not prescribe and demand external behavior such as praying five times a day facing a certain direction, abstaining from this or that, what to wear, wearing a certain kind of hat, only drinking a particular kind of tea, etc. God gives to us a life of constant individual decisions and choices, although i must admit, sometimes the barrage of choices is truly overwhelming. We, granted by God, have the right to choose: we can choose to be truthful, or lie; we can choose to live or die; we can even choose to express ourselves poorly or well; we can choose to come or go from the church body of our choosing and we’re not in debt to explain if we don’t want to. You decide. But consider carefully, Joshua 24:15 “…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.”
Galatians 5:16, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh”. Here the word “walk” literally means “to walk around,” where we allow our feet to take us is our own choice, and Gal 5:16 is saying to let God direct our walking around. “Walking” is about how we conduct ourselves. Another implication of the word “walk” means orderly arrangement of our steps, not a haphazard one of going here and there. Gal 5:25, “If we walk in the Spirit, let us walk in an orderly fashion by means of the Spirit.” This time the word “walk” in Greek means not only to “tread around”, but to “tread around with order”, in a row, a column. It is orderly, directed by the Holy Spirit, not some haphazard going around like an intoxicated driver, going from ditch to ditch, but instead, one of order and consistency. The Holy Spirit must be the arranger of our walk in our daily lives. Is He? Only then is our freedom truly of the Spirit.
i find most intersections in God’s Word are places of the supernatural. Take the incident in Luke 19:28-34 and Mark 11:4 where there was a colt tied outside by the door in a place where two ways met, or, at the fork in the road, near to Bethphage and Bethany. Bethpage, meaning where they grew figs, and Bethany, meaning where dates were grown. If we carefully read it, it’s an amazing sequence of events. Everyone made choices. Jesus chose to be obedient to the Father and prophecy correctly; there was the choice to be obedient by the disciples, you can read how the villagers chose to allow the disciples to accomplish what Jesus had asked of them. The people chose to lay their clothing across the colts back for the Savior to ride on into Jerusalem (v35). Other people laid their clothing down in honor before Jesus as He rode into Jerusalem on the colt (v36), and they made the excellent choice to glorify God who rode on the colt rather than glorify the colt on which God was riding. Did you get that? They glorified God who rode the donkey rather than glorify the donkey God was riding on. What do you make of that?
Job had reached a major intersection, more than once, where he had to make the choice, driven by his friends to admit sin which wasn’t true so he wouldn’t have to suffer anymore, or go with God, trusting and believing that God is righteous, even if he had no understanding or answers from the Lord?
And ultimately, Galatians 5:17 from the Message, “For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are in direct opposition to each other, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?”
Psalm 1:1-6 speaks of living life in two ways. There is a choice given to everyone, to either live for the Lord, or not. Mark 4:25, “For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” Mark 4:25 contrasts the results of life which is lived in two opposite directions. It basically says, the more you have, the more you have, and the less you have the less you have, the more you go left, the more you go left, and the more you go right, the more you go right. The coefficient of slipping says the more you slip, the more you slip, and the more you grip, the more you grip. Our choices have momentum and weight, the more we choose wrong, the more apt we are to choose wrong. And the more we choose right, the more apt we are to choose right.
So, why don’t you let God help you choose? Or better yet, let Him choose and then follow Him. That’s not to say you’re not responsible for your choosing, but still, God is much better at knowing the good choices than we are. Choosing right gets easier the more you choose right. Choosing the right is good for our conscience too. A good, sound conscience is key to making good choices. Making a good choice, choosing to do right when at an intersection puts us in a position of planting righteousness, for planting righteousness reaps righteousness.
Thank you for joining me, i’m Social Porter for Living In His Name Ministries.