It's Your Choice Series

CHOICES, CHOICES, CHOICES. WHEN I BOUGHT MY FIRST COMPUTER A FRIEND OF MINE CLUED ME IN TO THE TECHNICAL DETAILS OF WHAT I WANTED, I WENT TO THE COMPUTER SHOP BOY I WAS GEARED UP. I COULD TALK AT’S AND XT’S AND 286’S AND 386’S, 1.44 AND 1.2 MEGS. I KNEW EGA, CGA AND VGA, RAMS AND ROMS, HARD DRIVES AND FLOPPIES, CLOCK SPEEDS, . I HAD ALL THE BASES COVERED TIL THE MAN SAID AND WHAT TYPE OF CASE WOULD YOU LIKE THAT IN, AHHHHH.

WHEN I GO TO A CHINESE RESTAURANT I AGONIZE OVER WHETHER I WANT THE LEMON CHICKEN, HONEY CHICKEN, GARLIC CHICKEN OR NO CHICKEN, WON TON OR EGG DROP SOUP, EGG ROLLS, SPRING ROLLS OR DIM SIMS.

AT MACDONALDS I’M NEVER QUITE SURE IF I WANT A BIG MAC OR QUARTER POUNDER UNTIL THE WORDS LEAVE MY MOUTH.

CHOICES, CHOICES, CHOICES I HATE MAKING CHOICES. MY RESPONSES IS ALWAYS A DEFINITE MAYBE AND I TRY MY BEST TO LIVE IN THE WORLD OF INDECISION. IN MOST INSTANCES IN LIFE OUR CHOICES AREN’T ALL THAT SIGNIFICANT, AFTER I BOUGHT MY TOYOTA STATION WAGON IN WHITE I THOUGHT I SHOULD HAVE ORDERED THE BLUE.

BUT THAT DIDN’T HAVE ETERNAL IMPLICATIONS. SOMETIMES I ORDER PIZZA AND FELT LIKE MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE GONE FOR CHINESE, NO MAJOR PROBLEM.

HOWEVER IN MATTHEW 7:13-14 CHRIST IS TALKING ABOUT A CHOICE THAT WILL BE THE MOST IMPORTANT CHOICE YOU WILL EVER MAKE. ENTER THROUGH THE NARROW GATE. FOR WIDE IS THE GATE AND BROAD IS THE ROAD THAT LEADS TO DESTRUCTION, AND MANY ENTER THROUGH IT. BUT SMALL IS THE GATE AND NARROW THE ROAD THAT LEADS TO LIFE, AND ONLY A FEW FIND IT. THE NKJV SAYS IN VS 14 BECAUSE NARROW IS THE GATE AND DIFFICULT IS THE WAY WHICH LEADS TO LIFE.

LIFE IS FULL OF CHOICES, SOME OF NO SIGNIFICANCE, SOME OF ETERNAL SIGNIFICANCE, AND IT USUALLY FOLLOWS THAT THE MORE SIGNIFICANT THE DECISION THE HARDER IT IS. TO DECIDE WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE SHOULD BE A TOUGHER DECISION THEN WHETHER TO GO TO MACDONALDS OR BURGER KING. WHO YOU SHOULD MARRY SHOULD REQUIRE A LITTLE MORE THOUGHT THEN WHO YOU ARE GOING TO TAKE TO THE MOVIES TUESDAY NIGHT.

I WAS BORN IN CANADA AND REALLY HAD NO CONTROL OVER THAT, I DID NOT HAVE TO CHOOSE TO BE BORN IN CANADA, I DID NOT HAVE TO CHOOSE TO BE A CANADIAN, MY CITIZENSHIP WAS DETERMINED AT BIRTH. ON THE OTHER HAND WHEN WE MOVED TO AUSTRALIA IT HAD TO BE A CONSCIOUS DECISION. I HAD TO DECIDE I WAS GOING TO GO, I HAD TO FILL OUT VAST AMOUNTS OF PAPER WORK, I HAD TO BE EXAMINED BY DOCTORS, HAVE BLOOD TAKEN BY LABORATORY WORKERS, I HAD TO BE X-RAYED BY RADIOLOGISTS, SCREENED BY THE LOCAL POLICE AND THE MOUNTIES, I HAD TO PROVIDE EVERY BIT OF DOCUMENTATION THAT HAD EVER BEEN PRODUCED ON DENN GUPTILL IN HIS ENTIRE LIFE, AND THEN SOME MORE, I HAD TO HAVE PICTURE TAKEN FOR PASSPORTS, AND MORE PICTURES TAKEN FOR VISAS, I HAD TO PUT EVERYTHING IN AN ENVELOPE ALONG WITH VAST AMOUNTS OF MONEY FOR THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT THEN I HAD TO TAKE IT TO THE POST OFFICE AND MAIL IT TO TORONTO.

AND THEN I HAD TO PURCHASE AIRPLANE TICKETS, MAIL MY BELONGINGS, GET ON A HOLLOW METAL TUBE WITH WINGS ON IT FLY 28 HOURS WITH A SIX YEAR OLD AND A THREE YEAR OLD HALF WAY AROUND THE WORLD. I HAVE SAID THAT TO SAY THIS I HAD TO CHOOSE TO GO TO AUSTRALIA.

REMINDS ME OF THE STORY OF THE KIWI WHO GOT TO THE AIRPORT AND FOUND THAT HE WAS TWENTY CENTS SHORT OF THE FARE TO FLY BACK TO NEW ZEALAND SO HE WENT UP TO A FELLOW AND SAID "EXCUSE ME COULD YOU LEND ME TWENTY CENTS SO I CAN FLY HOME" AND THE FELLOW SAID, "SURE MATE HERES A DOLLAR TAKE FOUR OF YOUR FRIENDS WITH YOU."

NOW THEN I HAVE SAID THAT TO SAY THIS WE ARE BORN IN SIN, WE ARE BORN OUT OF FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD, AND IN ORDER TO GET INTO FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD, IN ORDER TO GAIN CITIZENSHIP INTO HEAVEN, WE HAVE TO MAKE A CHOICE. YOU SAY BUT THAT’S NOT FAIR. WELL IT WASN’T ALWAYS THAT WAY. WAY BACK IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED MAN IN HIS OWN IMAGE, AND THAT IMAGE WAS HOLY, AND THAT IMAGE WAS RIGHTEOUS, AND SIN WASN’T A PART OF THAT IMAGE.AND GOD PLACED ADAM AND EVE, THE FIRST MAN AND FIRST WOMAN IN THE WORLD AND THEY COULD DO ANYTHING THEY WANTED, ANYTHING EXCEPT ONE THING.

HEY WHAT IF THERE WAS ONLY ONE THING IN THE ENTIRE WORLD THAT YOU WEREN’T ALLOWED TO DO. JUST ONE THING, AND WHAT IF THAT ONE THING WAS THAT YOU COULDN’T EAT THE FRUIT OF ONE PARTICULAR TREE. THAT WAS IT, IN GENESIS 2:16 AND THE LORD GOD COMMANDED THE MAN "YOU ARE FREE TO EAT FROM ANY TREE IN THE GARDEN; BUT YOU MUST NOT EAT FROM THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, FOR WHEN YOU EAT OF IT YOU WILL SURELY DIE."