Choices

Choice, an act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities. This word in this past semester has stuck out to me while I have been at Gateway. Granted, we make choices everyday, getting out of bed, what to eat, what clothes to wear, and so on. These things are small and not really all that significant, and in the end they make up who we are overall, but the choices that I am talking about can affect your life.

God gave us the choice since He made Adam. Genesis 2:16-17 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Here God gave man a choice weather or not to obey Him. He tells Adam and Eve that they can do what they want, but according to what they do will affect their life. In Deuteronomy 11 God gives the Israelites another choice starting in verse 26, Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a cures: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today to go after other gods which you have not known. This is a choice of weather or not we want to serve our flesh or God.

There will be purpose to everything that we do. Weather the decision is a good one or bad one, I feel as if we will learn from the decisions we make, and hopefully it will make us a better person in the end. My ultimate goal in life is to make it to heaven. This may sound selfish and forgive me if it sounds that way, but I am not going to hell for anyone. I do not care if it is the love of my life or a million people that will go to heaven in my place. The thing that is getting at me is not will my choices affect salvation, it is more of the long term choices I make that will affect who I am, my reputation, and how I will end up as a person. Also, a big question that I have in general, not just pertaining to me, but when do my choices become so self centered that I do not care about other people who are trying to help me and guide me?

One of my biggest worries is that I will make mistakes that will drastically change my life. In my personal prayer time, I ask God to lead and guide me, to close the doors He wants closed, and to open the ones He wants open. I have had to learn to put complete trust in God and not force his hand. Not saying that I have not gone around to doors to see if they are unlocked so that I can open them. I feel as if sometimes people just wait for God to open a door, in the mean time they just sit and wait. I do not like that mindset, because I think we need to work hard and try to find the door that God wants us to go though if He has not opened a clear door. With that being said when I put people in my life that I choose put my confidence in, I try to listen. I the thing that irks me the most is when someone comes to me in confidence and asks for my advice and the next day does the exact opposite of what I suggest to them. I do not have all the answers, I am only 20 years old, but if I choose to put confidence in someone, that means to some extent I trust them. In trusting them, I need to take into consideration and prayer to what advice they give me, not making quick decisions.

Choices are made everyday weather they are life changing or just simple routine. This is obvious and is not a revelation at all, but the choices we make map the road for our life weather they seem insignificant or taking a risk that will instantly be change everything about a person. Sometimes our choices can be undone and sometimes they can not. This is why everyday we, I, must put God first in our lives, listen to those who we have put our trust in, and again, trust God.