Devotional: June - July 2007

Choices — they are the essence of our everyday lives.  We make some good decisions and some bad.  Some are very impacting decisions and some not so much. 

A few minutes ago I was in the checkout line market and chose to get a candy bar.  Did I need a candy bar?  No.  Was I hungry?  A little, but not starving.  Was that a good decision?  Absolutely not, especially considering that I’ve been trying to cut back on those types of food.  Will the candy bar kill me?  Probably not, but if I continuously make the wrong decision, even when it comes to something as simple as food, it could in the long run affect my health.  Now I could blame that decision on the fact that they had the candy displayed so conveniently in the checkout line.  I could say that I deserve to have some chocolate, because I’ve had a long day, thus blaming it on my circumstances.  But truthfully, I ate the candy bar because I chose to, even though I could have walked on and decided not to. 

That’s how life is.  Each and every day we have choices to make and they will affect the outcome of our day as well as the people around us.  Some decisions even affect a lifetime. 

Joshua made a decision for his family in Joshua 24:15 when he said “…as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”  He made a positive decision that affected his family for the good.  Paul decided in Philippians 3:13-14 to forget his past and press through his circumstances because he had a calling on his life that was greater than life itself.  That had to be difficult for someone with a past like Paul.  He murdered Christians before he got saved.  He probably came in contact all the time with people that were related to people he had killed!  What a reminder!  But he knew that living in the guilt of the past would only crucify his future so he made a right decision to move on. 

Adam and Eve chose to do the one thing that was forbidden to them and because of that choice, all of mankind fell (Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3).  David made a choice to forgo his duty and not go to war with his troops.  Seems like a small thing.  But because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, he ended up lusting after a woman, sleeping with her, and then killing her husband so he could marry the woman and cover up his own sin!  Who’d have thought that choice could have led to all of that?

Tomorrow morning, you don’t have to get up in time to go to work.  In fact, you don’t even have to go to work.  You don’t have to bathe, eat, pay your bills, go to church or wear clothes.  You can be ticked-off at your husband or wife, ignore your children, and charge a whole new wardrobe that you can’t afford on your credit cards.  But all those decisions have consequences.  If you don’t go to work, you eventually won’t have a job.  If you don’t pay your bills, you won’t have a home or a car.  If you are disrespectful to your spouse, you’ll have a terrible marriage.  And those are all choices you have to make.

So tomorrow when you are faced with a decision, pause for just a moment and consider the options.  Make the decision that has the best outcome.  It may seem like a small thing at the time, but its effects could be far-reaching.  It may be hard to make the right decision right now.  It might be a lot easier to blame someone else for your behavior.  But don’t forget that your future is at stake.  So make the right choice.   

Having said all of that, it still would be much easier if they wouldn’t have candy in the checkout aisles. 

Don’t forget—the best is yet to come!

--Sonya