Importance of Decision

Everything begins with a decision. Things like what car to buy, house to build, where to live, what kind of job to do, school or church to attend, who to date or marry, and so on. Wherever we are in life or whatever job(s) we have, we are faced with a decision at one time or another. There are all kinds of decision-making ideas but most often, the first step is to recognize or identify the problem. Choices that we make in life depend on our decision. I need help here. What can we decide about our lives or existence? In other words, where did we come from and where are we going from here? Who are we? The bible tells us that we are children of God, made in his image and likeness but sometimes it is easy to forget and drift along in life. That can be very dangerous. We need to take time and ask ourselves some thought-provoking questions from time to time. Our society is very busy and that makes it hard to slow down. We need not wait till we are 77 years old and retired to find out why we are here. Some have retired at 40 or 50 years. It does not matter what age we prefer to retire. What matters is to slow down and take deliberate thought about our existence. Some have short and long term goals. It does not matter what you have if the Lord is not part of that process. Our maker and creator had a reason and a plan for our lives; which is to have a relationship with us. Many of us do not make time to allow that to happen. His heart is still the same, longing for us. With an everlasting love, he has cared for us unconditionally. When we were young children growing up, our parents made decisions for us about those things we needed. For instance, they made decisions about what clothes to buy for us, accommodation to live in, and places to go and so on. But there comes a time, when we grow up and we make our minds about what we want in life. At such times, the foundation on which we grew up can help our decision making process. We can head off to college, find a job, good man or woman to marry and start a family. We can bond with other Christians in a church and grow our faith and so on. But what happens when the foundation of our childhood was somewhat unstable? We can drift easily and make some not too good choices in life. What do we do then? Sometimes, it can be overwhelming especially when we have gone too far down the wrong end of the street to turn around and make a comeback. What we need more than anything else in such circumstances or situations is a realization that our own heavenly father has imprinted his stamp of ownership upon our lives. Once we turn it over to him, he can always make something beautiful out of it again. So, we are encouraged to bring our broken pieces of lives to Jesus. He said in Jl 2:25 that the years the locusts have eaten shall be restored. This is the message of mercy. God our father is so merciful. Once we have realized and decided that we need his help, he is eager and ready to help us out. That should be very comforting. That is the story of the prodigal son in Lk 15:11-24. He made it back to a loving and forgiving father and was restored. So, our God is ready to restore our brokenness.

From the beginning in Genesis, Adam was placed in the garden with a simple command "be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth" (Gn 1:28). What do you think of that command? Did he follow through with it? How about you and I? Have we considered what our parts should be in that command? Do I have a say here about our world today? What do you say about the world we are handing over to our children? Whose job is it to make this world a better place? Is it the president's job or that of congress and the law makers? Maybe it is the job of pastors and those in various levels of leadership. How about you? What part do you play in the big plan? There is a real danger in playing small and thinking it is none of your business. My son wrote a poem in 6th grade called "Tree".

"A tree is what I would be,
So big, strong and confident.
Trees can grow lots of leaves,
And I don't ever grow cold.
When it rains, I'm taking a bath.
It wouldn't hurt to lose a limb.
After summer, the fall comes in. I love
the cool wind blowing.
The snow makes me lose my leaves.
Except for when they come and cut me
down ...
Thump!"
By Michael Edet.

We owe it to our children to make a difference. To live a legacy that will outlast us. God has given us a command and we can count on him to see us through. He knew we could do it and that is why he gave it to us. The danger is thinking we can do it by our own strength. On our own, we can do nothing. God's grace is sufficient for us to start today.

We can take baby steps towards making a difference. He said in Lk 10:19 "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you. If God be for us, who can be against us? He has the power and he has given it to us. It is now left for us to do something with all that power he has given us. We must start by changing our thoughts and perceptions of who we really are. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."

Further down in Prv 18:1, it says "through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom". So if we desire to know more, God will; grant that to us. Let us pray that the Lord will deliver our feet from stumbling and that his light will shine upon us and lead us in the right way so that in all things, we will do his will.

He promised to be us and never forsake us. He has not asked us to do the impossible. God's commandment is not burdensome 1John 5:3 and when we depend on him, he will carry us through. The bible says "with God all things are possible". Even if our logical mind tells us it cannot be done, the love of God renews us and we can do it again. We can love again, forgive again, and give to worthy causes without becoming bankrupt. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases but it is new every moment (Lam 3:23).

The blessings we are seeking in so many places can only be found in obeying God's word. There is no lack in this universe. Every time there is an obituary, it makes me wonder how many people took their money with them. If they did not take those billions with them, it is still here. We just need to activate our financial blessing by doing what is asked of us. He says "Give and it shall be given unto you."

Our human wisdom cannot accept that because there are lots of things we need to do with our money. God is asking us to trust him to take us to another level of the impossible; a level where giving opens the door to financial blessings. Abraham was asked to give the most prized possession he had, his only son Isaac. He had waited till he was a 100 years old to have this son; and now God wants him to sacrifice the boy. But he trusted God and knew he could do the impossible. Do we trust God; and to what extent?

Making spiritual decisions based on what our natural minds can analyze, goes contrary to God's principle. When we are in Christ, all things become new as in 2 Corinthians 5:17 "if any man is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, and the new has come". We were taught in regard to our former ways of life, to put off the old...