“Consider The Choices That You Make” Matthew 7:21-27
When the show “Let’s Make A Deal” aired in the seventies, one of the hardest things for people to do was to make a decision. Monty Hall would give them a choice between the prizes they had already won or they could trade that in for what was behind door # 1, 2, or 3. Behind one of those doors was a great prize and behind one was a gag gift. Many of the people would listen to what the crowd was yelling because they couldn’t make the choice for themselves. Before making any decisions it is wise for us to “Consider the choices that we make.”
I’m not a big Country music fan…but I do think that country music has some of the best song titles of any musical genre… Let me give you some examples…
"You Can’t Roller Skate In A Buffalo Herd"
"Thank God And Greyhound She’s Gone"
"Fell In A Pile Of You And Got Love All Over Me"
"If Love Were Oil, I’d Be A Quart Low"
"If The Phone Don’t Ring, Baby, You’ll Know It’s Me"
"She Done Tore My Heart Out And Stomped That Sucker Flat"
"How Can I Miss You If You Won’t Go Away?"
You know there’s has to be a good story behind everyone of those song titles… I have no idea…
But there is one country song that I do know the story behind it. It’s a song by George Jones. A lot of his songs are "cheat’n & drink’n" songs. And the fact that George Jones had a drinking problem was no secret. And on March 6, 1999 Jones was critically injured in a drunk driving incident. Luckily he recovered, and two months later his new album called "Cold Hard Truth" came out and on it was a hit song titled "Choices", and ironically the hook line says, "I’m Living And Dying With The Choices I Made".
The same is true with every one of us. Life is full of choices: We make hundreds of choices everyday. Some are fairly insignificant (Do I want to eat Chinese food or Mexican food? Do I want paper or plastic?) And then there are the choices that greatly impact our lives.
Deuteronomy 30:19, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” It is important that we make wise decisions because we live and die with the choices we make.
I would like for us to consider three things today; “Life’s Most Important Choices” – “Suggestions for Making Wise Choices” – “How We Should Respond to Poor choices.”
I. Life’s Most Important Choices – There are a lot of important choices we make in life, but I think these four tops all others.
A. CHOOSING YOUR FRIENDS... We need to be careful in choosing friends because close friends can be a wonderful blessing – or a terrible curse. A friend is someone we trust, someone we talk to and share our thoughts, concerns, and hardships with, a friend is someone we trust to give us good advice.
Psalm 1:1, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.” A Friend is someone we go to for council. There are people that may have good intentions when giving advice but their advice is based on what feels good rather than on what on what is good. Good advice is never based on temporary things (like our feelings), but eternal things. So, we ought to surround ourselves with people who demonstrate moral character. They will give good advice. Parents ought to know their kid’s friends.
B. CHOOSING YOUR CAREER… Why do people choose the career they do? (Many for financial reasons). But the bible tells us that if we make money the primary factor in any decision, then destruction will follow – 1 Tim 6:6-10, “6Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Many think that money will bring happiness but they are deceiving themselves.
We ought to choose a career that serves a purpose, helps others, and brings fulfillment into our lives. Money is important, we all need to take care of our families, but it should not be the primary factor in choosing a career.
C. CHOOSING YOUR SPOUSE... I’ve heard… We’re in love – lust. You ought to marry the person, that will built you up, encourage you, strengthen you, support you, and care for you, (What’s the famous line in Jerry McGuire? YOU COMPLETE ME) God intended your spouse to complete you
Genesis 2:18, 21-24, “And the LORD God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
Marriage can be wonderful experience in your life or it can be miserable experience in your life… Proverbs 12:4, “An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones.” That goes both ways…
D. CHOOSING YOUR LORD... This one decision will affect your life more than any other decision you will ever make because it determines your values and your destiny. Joshua 24:15, “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve”.
CHOOSE FOR YOURSELVES – You must make a choice. The choice is yours, and yours alone. We all have a free will, no one can make you do anything you don’t want to do, the choice is yours. You alone are accountable to God for your life. Don’t take it lightly because this choice will determine your place for all eternity.
THIS DAY – “Well I don’t want to make a decision today.” Failure to choose is a choice. You don’t know about tomorrow… You may very well have many other opportunities, but is it worth the risk.
WHOM YOU WILL SERVE – There are multitudes of people that enjoy serving God on Sunday and then serving there own desires, there money, or something else the rest of the week. Luke 16:13, “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other.” Who is Lord over your life? Is it self, sin, or is it the Savior.
II. SUGGESTIONS FOR MAKING WISE CHOICES
A. ASK GOD FOR WISDOM... He promises to give wisdom to those who ask in faith - James 1:5-6, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God… and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.” If we all had more wisdom, we would make wiser choices. We would have more success and less failure. We would accomplish greater things. We would be more content with life.
B. MAKE CHOICES ACCORDING TO HIS WILL - James 4:13-15, “Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” Include God, if you wish to make wise choices! God’s will never contradicts God’s word.
D. COMMIT YOUR CHOICES TO THE LORD... Psalm 37:5-6, “Commit your way unto the LORD; trust also in him... And he shall bring forth your righteousness as the light”.
So many people waver in their decisions, wondering if they have made the right choice. If we are not totally committed to the choices we make we will never follow through to the end. That shows a lack of determination. When we make a commitment to the Lord, and trust that He will direct our paths then we feel compelled to follow through. We should never take our commitments to the Lord lightly.
III. RESPONDING TO POOR CHOICES
We should all be able to admit that we have made some foolish choices in our lifetime. Sometimes the choices we made were not near as bad as the way we dealt with it afterwards. Just because we have made poor choices does not mean we are a failure. But the way we respond to those choices tells a lot about our character.
A. THE WRONG THING TO DO... Lie about it… Continue in your ways – Continue to make poor choices, Wallow in self pity - Become bitter and blame God.
B. The Right Thing To Do –
1. LEARN FROM YOUR OWN MISTAKES…
Two guys are sitting in a bar watching the ten-o’clock news. A report comes on about a man threatening to jump from the 20th floor of a downtown building. One friend turns to the other and says, "I’ll bet you ten bucks the guy doesn’t jump." "It’s a bet," agrees his buddy.
A few minutes later, the man on the ledge jumps, so the loser hands his pal a $10 bill. "I can’t take your money," his friend admits. "I saw him jump earlier on the six-o’clock news."
"Me, too," say the other buddy. "But I didn’t think he’d do it again!"
2. LEARN FROM THE MISTAKES OF THERS… I watched my brothers make a lot of mistakes and get into a lot of trouble, I learned from them not to do the things they did…
3. FORGET THE PAST AND PRESS FORWARD
Listen to what the Apostle Paul did - Philippians 3:13-14, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” You cannot change you past, but your past doesn’t have to control you. You can turn from your past and face your future with hope in Jesus Christ.
CONCLUSION: Every one of us has made poor choices in our lifetime, but God loves us and cares for us and He has a plan for us. Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
