What’s your choice?

I had an epiphany this morning.  I got up and “went to church” in my living room and Pastor taught on generational blessings (Gen 26).  I learned a lot and as I was pondering it long after and asking God what I was supposed to write today (I jotted down a title last week – not the one I’m writing now), He gave me some clarity about something I’ve been very wrong about.  We DO get to choose our destiny.  We do have some control over our lives.  Yes, God is in ultimate control over what happens and nothing can happen that He doesn’t allow, but for the first time, I realized we get to choose.  God gives us the free will to choose Him or not.  That is what determines our destiny. 

It was like a light bulb went off.  We can’t control our thoughts or bodies or the world around us, but we do control our decisions.  We make them every day.  God made us in His image and He gave us the authority to have dominion in the earth (Gen 1:26), but we squander it each and every day.  We get so distracted about what we can see and what’s happening to us that we forget who we are.  If we are in relationship with God, through Jesus, we are God’s children and joint heirs with Christ (Rom 8:16-17).  We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil 4:13).  God has given us gifts and abilities and they will make room for us.  But how are we choosing to use them?  Are we using them for our own gain or for God’s glory?  

The choices we make each day, determine our destiny.  Are we choosing to follow God today or our own fleshly thoughts and desires?  Are we spending time with the Lord to know His thoughts and desires for us?  Do we hear His voice?  Do we know what His voice sounds like so we won’t be lead astray by a stranger?  Do we study His word so we know when something comes at us contrary to it? Or are we living “our best life” and expecting God to bless us anyway?  Do we choose to treat God like a Genie – ask him for a gift and just expect that he’ll deliver because we asked?  I read recently that some people want what God promises, but don’t want to do what He requires in order to get it.   That feels a little like thievery – don’t want to work for something, just take it…..and that too is a choice. 

The fact is that every choice we make has a consequence – be it good or bad.  When we sin, the consequence is death (Rom 6:23), which then requires repentance and forgiveness.  When we are obedient, God blesses us (Exo 19:5-6; Deut 28).  And depending on the type of blessing, our obedience can lead to blessings to many more generations.  Our obedience is not just a one-time thing, it is a continual life style.  Will we mess up? Absolutely! But that is an opportunity to learn and not repeat the same mistake or make the same choice.  It’s an opportunity to choose God over ourselves knowing that God has us.  He will take care of us and provide for us in ways we can’t imagine.  If we do what He says, He’ll do what He says.  God’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isa 55:8-9).  We can’t comprehend what He has for us and we couldn’t handle it if He told us His plan – if fact, we’d likely mess it up.  

I implore you to choose God’s way! It is so much better than ours could ever be.  Might we miss out on some earthly pleasure?  Sure, but it’s not good for us anyway.  We are visitors in this world (1 Chron 29:15; 1 Peter 2:11).  We have been called out.  We are to be a peculiar people (1 Peter 2:9).  Remember, we live in a fallen world.  This is not what God created our existence to be.  That changed thousands of years ago, when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden.  We’ll never know while we live here what could have been had Adam and Eve not sinned against God.  But we do get to choose how we live our lives and what happens to us when we leave here.  We can choose to ask Christ to be our savior and have a real relationship with a loving Father in Heaven or we can choose to reject the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross and spend eternity in Hell.  The choice is up to us.   What will you choose?