Choices

CHOICES

Job 34:2-4

Hear my words, wise men; and give ear to me, you who have knowledge; For the ear tries words, as the palate tastes food. Let us choose for ourselves what is right; let us know among ourselves what is good.

Introduction: There is a story about a man named Fred who inherited $10 million, but the will required that he had to accept it either in Chile or Brazil. He chose Brazil. Unhappily it turned out that in Chile he would have received his inheritance in land on which uranium, gold, and silver had just been discovered. Once in Brazil he had to choose between receiving his inheritance in coffee or nuts. He chose the nuts. Too bad! The bottom fell out of the nut market, and coffee went up to $1.30 a pound wholesale, unroasted. Poor Fred lost everything he had to his name. He went out and sold his solid gold watch for the money he needed to fly home. It seems that he had enough for a ticket to either New York or Boston. He chose Boston. When the plane for New York taxied up he noticed it was a brand-new super 747 jet with red carpets and chic people and wine-popping hostesses. The plane for Boston then arrived. It was a 1928 Ford tri-motor with a sway back and it took a full day to get off the ground. It was filled with crying children and tethered goats. Over the Andes, one of the engines fell off. Our man Fred made his way up to the captain and said, "I’m a jinx on this plane. Let me out if you want to save your lives. Give me a parachute." The pilot agreed, but added, "On this plane, anybody who bails out must wear two chutes." So Fred jumped out of the plane, and as he fell dizzily through the air he tried to make up his mind which ripcord to pull. Finally he chose the one on the left. It was rusty and the wire pulled loose. So he then pulled the other handle. This chute opened, but its shroud lines snapped. In desperation, the poor fellow cried out, "St. Francis save me!" A great hand from heaven reached down and seized the poor fellow by the wrist and let him dangle in midair. Then a gentle but inquisitive voice asked, "St. Francis Xavier or St. Francis of Assisi?" [James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988) p. 153.] While we laugh at a humorous tale like this, Everyday we are confronted with many choices. We often do not realize how vitally important these choice are and how they impact our lives. In Genesis we get a glimpse of how choices effect us as we look at the lives of Eve and Adam, Lot, Abraham, and Esau. As we consider their choices, may we see that the choices we make will determine our character, our influence, our commitment and relationship to Christ, and ultimately our destiny.

I. CHOICE DETERMINES DEPTH OF ONE’S CHARACTER

A. Eve’s and Adam’s choices - Genesis 3:1-7 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said to the woman, Is it so that God has said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat of it, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as God, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasing to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make wise, she took of its fruit, and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. And the eyes of both of them were opened. And they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made girdles for themselves.

B. American Dictionary of the English Language defines character as the stable and distinctive qualities built into an individual’s life which determine his response regardless of circumstances. ["to cut, engrave"]

C. Someone has said it is who you are, even when no one is watching.

D. Adam and Eve were given a choice which engraved man’s character.

E. Romans 5:12 Therefore, even as through one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed on all men inasmuch as all sinned: