Make Good Choices

Do you think you make good choices? What exactly does that mean? Make good choices. I used to serve in my church's day care nursery and one of the ladies in the nursery would tell the children upon their departure, "make good choices."

I want to reflect on her comment.

The freedom to make our own choices is a very important issue in our society. Every day, each of us chooses to do the things that we do, unless we are limited to the authorities' decisions and rules, such as in the military.

No matter what our choices are today, they are ultimately creating our future because every choice we make will either cause us to be blessed or cursed.

I have a grandson who hates to go to school. I am now trying to convince him that by not going to school or cutting classes, he is affecting his future, his diploma, getting a job, or joining the military, which he says he would like to do. He has a rebellious spirit which will eventually lead him to death (curses).

The Bible tells us that we can choose life or death. This is a part of making good choices. All choices have consequences. These consequences will be for our betterment or will work to destroy us. Satan, as I know him, is a destroyer and he roams the earth seeking and looking for individuals he can destroy.

We better be careful with the choices we make!

The Bible challenges us in the book of Deuteronomy 30:19, where God is telling his chosen people, "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore chose life, that both you and your children might live..." All who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior are God's chosen people, and we admonished to chose life or death, so that we and our children might live!

I constantly warn my children to be careful what they watch, listen or read. Many messages going forth in our society today have stressed our "right to chose" but have not balanced it with the message that our choices have consequences (especially in the area of lust and selfishness). For instance, most movies have glamorized many things that are bad for us and have not generally shown the destructive results of smoking, drinking, adultery, fornication, gambling, abortion, etc. These things don't come home to roost until something tragic occurs in our life.

God did give humans the opportunity to make choices that genuinely affect their destiny and because God created mankind in His own image, that included the ability to choose. Making good choices is making good sense, exercising good judgment and discipline. We are going to be held accountable for the choices we make.

As Christians, we are to develop the attributes of Christ and become like Him. Because much of our personalities are formed through our choices, we have to make new choices to let go of the old nature and receive the new. Our new natures are formed by the truths from the Word of God.

The mind is the intellect, with reasoning being the "voice" of the mind. If the mind remains unrenewed, not "healed," it will continue to think carnal thoughts, believe false information, and result in fleshly speaking and living.

Our future is determined by all the choices we are making today. Let us bring God into helping us make our decisions. In doing so, it will determine whether our future will be secure and will have God's blessing on it.

Let us be as Joshua was and declare: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." God promised Joshua good success if he obeyed the words of the Law and chose to follow Him. Joshua and his family were blessed because he made the right choices; even though he went through many battles, God was with him. He was an overcomer. And you can be too!

It took me a while to grasp what my fellow day care co-worker meant, but the more I study the Word of God, the more it becomes a lamp and light to my path. Making good choices seems like a smart thing to do.

Thought for Today: Be smart and be obedient. Make good choices so you can have life.