The ability to make choices is a crucial life skill. People who are unable to choose something, actually are making a choice to not choose. That probably sounds contradictory, but God placed in us the desire and ability to choose our behavior.
When I taught the College and Career Class at church, the students often told me what they HAD to do that week. They always seemed to sum it up with "I had no choice." Yes, they did. We always have a choice. The only time you don't get to decide the action is at your birth and death. In between those two, you make every decision for your life. No, I didn't. My parents made the decisions for me. Yes, I understand that. But you had the choice to obey or not. No, if I didn't obey, I received severe punishment. So you chose to obey rather than receive the punishment.
What we fail to calculate is the consequence of our choice. Every decision has a consequence. We tend to think of consequence as the negative result of something. Actually, the word consequence means the result or effect of an action or event. It doesn't matter whether it is positive or negative. If I earn money, the positive consequence is that I can afford the things I want. The negative consequence is that I have to pay the government their share. I can choose not to earn the amount of money so that I don't owe the government. However, then I would miss a lot of blessings.
God gives us choices. Sometimes we make them with little thought to the consequences. Our spiritual walk with him is our choice. I hope you make a decision today.
Sunday we will look at the choices David and Rahab made and the consequences that resulted.
When I taught the College and Career Class at church, the students often told me what they HAD to do that week. They always seemed to sum it up with "I had no choice." Yes, they did. We always have a choice. The only time you don't get to decide the action is at your birth and death. In between those two, you make every decision for your life. No, I didn't. My parents made the decisions for me. Yes, I understand that. But you had the choice to obey or not. No, if I didn't obey, I received severe punishment. So you chose to obey rather than receive the punishment.
What we fail to calculate is the consequence of our choice. Every decision has a consequence. We tend to think of consequence as the negative result of something. Actually, the word consequence means the result or effect of an action or event. It doesn't matter whether it is positive or negative. If I earn money, the positive consequence is that I can afford the things I want. The negative consequence is that I have to pay the government their share. I can choose not to earn the amount of money so that I don't owe the government. However, then I would miss a lot of blessings.
God gives us choices. Sometimes we make them with little thought to the consequences. Our spiritual walk with him is our choice. I hope you make a decision today.
Sunday we will look at the choices David and Rahab made and the consequences that resulted.