The choices that we make are very important. It determines our victory and our future. One wrong choice can ruin your life. And a right choice can bless you abundantly.
What’s the first choice mentioned in the Bible? [allow audience to guess] Eve choosing to eat the forbidden fruit! No.
CHOICE begins even before. ‘Choice’ begins with God. The first chapter of Genesis gives us insight into variety of choices.
God created the universe in six days. Why did He take six days? Why not just a moment? Or why not two days? It was God’s choice to create everything in six days?
‘Choice’ is something that God had, right from the start. Like, God chose to keep the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the center of garden. He could’ve kept it in some corner so Adam and Eve could have hardly noticed it. But God placed it right there, in the center, so there was no way of missing it.
God’s choice was not influenced by anyone. Isa 40:13 says Who can fathom the Spirit of the LORD, or instruct the LORD as his counselor? He is all powerful and has all wisdom. He created the whole earth from nothing. As human beings we only have the power to re-create. This means we need some basic raw materials to create anything. But not so with God, he can create anything out of nothing (ex-nihilo)
And God passed on this gift of choice to mankind. Imagine if we did not have the power to choose. All of us will be like robots, with no freedom to choose. We will be controlled by someone.
Bear in mind, this gift is extremely important to us. Do you know how many choices you make every day on an average. Right from choosing when to get up, whether to snooze the alarm, how long to brush your teeth, to the colour of the dress you were till you go back to bed, you consciously or unconsciously make several choices.
Statistics say, human beings make roughly 5000 choices every day.
Do you know at which point in time we make most of the difficult and important choices in life? Around 18 to 30 years, we make the most important choices that decide our future. We call this ‘youth’
This is the time we decide on our job, career, life partner, education, etc. - some of these choices can never be reversed.
Now, coming back to Genesis 1, Who made the first wrong choice? Man. He disobeyed God and did what God said He must not do. He ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Why would man make this wrong choice? Simply because when God gives us choice, it means he automatically gives the power to choose between good and bad. We find this choice even in the book of Deuteronomy 30:19 when Joshua says, ‘This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.’
Unfortunately because of Adam made a wrong choice, all of us have become fallen beings. Still God did not take away the gift of choice, just because Adam did not make the right choice.
Still today, you and I have this gift of choice. We are not robots or puppets in God’s hands. Rather, he gives us complete freedom. Even as young people, God does not control you. He gives you complete freedom.
Ecc 11:9, says: You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.
Young people, how should you be? You should be happy? Not sad at all times?
Why? Youth is a gift from God. Youth is a period that everybody looks forward to. When you are a child, you wait to be a youth. When you are old, you look back to your young days.
People loving calling themselves as youth. No one likes to say, I have become old. It is during youth, you are at the peak. Your strength is highest when you are young – proverbs 20:29 says ‘The glory of young men is their strength’
During youth, your emotions are high. You constantly want to learn new things, go on adventurous trips, expose yourself to new things. It is one of the beautiful periods in life. Ecc 11:9 continues; ‘Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see,’
Again, God gives you a choice here. Whatever your heart desires, just do that do. Whatever your eyes want to see, just see that. No conditions at all. You need not listen to anyone else. Do what your heart wants to do. Do what your eyes want to see.. Not what someone else tells you to do..
Here is where you operate your gift of choice. You need to choose what your eyes are going to see.. You need to choose whether to give your heart what it desires.
You need to be careful in the choice you make. Even small choices we make has its own consequence.
When Adam and Eve sinned against God, God did not take away the gift of choice. But still, there was a consequence to the choice that Adam made. And there were two types of consequences:
One was the physical consequence. There were punishments like men have to sweat and work, women will bear children in pain, etc. But there was also a spiritual consequence or a soul-related consequence. Adam and Eve brought death upon mankind and they were chased out of the garden of Eden,
It took the second Adam, Christ, to reverse the consequence. When you accept Christ, your position is restored. He took your sins and gave you His righteousness. He took your shame and gave his glory. He took the curses and gave His blessings. He took away death and gave His life. A divine exchange took place at the cross.
That is why, you must remember the choices that you make has a great significance. Ecc 11:9 is not over. The verse ends like this. but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
Paul echoes this thought in 1 Cor 6:12 - I like the way New Living Translation puts this verse: You say “I am allowed to do anything’ but not everything is good for you. You say, I am allowed to do anything, - but not everything is beneficial.
When you are becoming slave to anything other than Christ, you are in danger. The consequence will be terrible.
So let’s meditate on three important choices that we must make in our life.
1. Choose to make Jesus a priority in your life.
You are not to follow Jesus as someone in a a crowd, but with a sincere heart as a disciple.
Luke 14:25-28 - 25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Jesus was essential telling them it is easy to follow him when in a crowd. Because there is no commitment involved. You can walk in anytime and walk out anytime. No one will question you because you would barely be noticed. You are just one in thousands. And so, many prefer to be in a crowd. That’s the easy way out!
There was an interesting illustration that I read.
Years ago a psychologist did an interesting experiment with teenagers designed to show how people respond to peer pressure. They brought groups of ten teens into a room. Each group of ten was instructed to raise their hands when the teacher pointed to the longest line on a series of different charts. What one person in the group did not know was that nine of the others in the room had been instructed ahead of time to vote for the second-longest line.
Regardless of the instructions they heard, once they were all together in the group, the nine were not to vote for the longest line, but rather vote for the next to the longest line. They found that when the nine teens voted together, the 10th would, more than 75% of the time, look around and slip their hand up with the group. The psychologist concluded from the study that most people would rather fit in than be right.
As Christians we are not called to fit in but to stand out.
So when Jesus says ‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life.’ He is asking you to prioritize God over and above everything else in your life. God wants Him to be your focus at all times.
He means that our allegiance and love for Him must be so great that by comparison our love for our families and even for our own lives looks like hatred.
Your choice to follow Jesus with all your heart is the first best decision you can ever make.
He should be my delight, His words must be delight. When people stand with God at a young age, the favour of God will always be upon their lives. Eg., Daniel and his friends. When they were taken captive to Babylon, their names were changed, their languages were changed. Attempts were made to change their food patterns as well. But Daniel and his friends did not compromise in any way and stood for God. They made sure God was their priority at all times. And we can see God’s hand of favour all through their lives. That is why Ecc 12:1 says Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.
Once a fig tree was growing in olive groves. And the fig tree began to say I am an olive tree, because I am growing in olive groves. Is it possible? Will a fig ever taste like an olive. In the same way, being born in Christian homes to Christian parents doesn’t make you a Christian. You need to have a personal relationship with Christ.
2. Choose what you think/speak
‘What I think is my business. It doesn’t matter.’ It does matter. You need to be careful in what you think. As rightly said, your thoughts become your words. Your words become your action. Your action becomes your habit. Your habit becomes your character.
Paul writes in Philippians 4:8 says - Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
Most sins begin in your thought life. No one sins immediately. He thinks about the sin again and again. Finally when he actually commits that sin it no longer hurts him because he has already played it so many times in his mind.
Satan attacks the mind first. That is why we need to be careful what the mind thinks. Remember how Satan played with Eve. He made her believe in her mind the lies that he said. He made her doubt God’s words. He was playing tricks with her mind.
Philippians 2:5, again Paul says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
Also, choose the words you speak. Make sure you speak words of faith into your future. God has given power in your tongue. What you speak will happen. Job 22:28 says You shall decree a thing and it shall be established.
In Luke 17:6, Jesus said something really interesting. “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey.
This verse talks about great things a mustard-seed-sized faith can do. But there is more to it. This verse also uses the word ‘say’. It is important you speak out words of faith to see impossible things becoming possible.
We find Jesus saying a similar thing in Matthew 17:20 - Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Speaking over the mountains in our life is important. Learn to speak positive words. Speak words of faith. Not disbelief.
Every morning when you get up, confess positive things about yourself. And about who you are. Say I am a child of God. I am accepted by God. I am beautifully and wonderfully made. I am what God says about me.
Your identity in Christ is very important. Once an eagle laid an egg among cocks. The cock hatched it and an eagle was birthed. The eagle thought it was a cock and continued to live among the other cocks. Once it saw an eagle flying high in the sky and wanted to fly like that. But the other cocks discouraged saying. ‘You need to be an eagle to fly so high. As cocks, we can fly only so much high’ And sadly, the eagle believed what the others said about him and died. It did not live up to the purpose and potential God created it to be.
3. Choose to depend on God for your future
Have you struggled to make any choice? All of us have, right? At some point in time. Or maybe some of you are struggling right now.
How can you make the right choice? You don’t know what will happen five years from now. How can you make a right choice? Or how can you be sure that the choice you made is right.
If you want to make the right choice for your future, you need to consult the one who knows your future. GOD. Your wisdom can cheat you, Your circumstances can cheat you. But God will never fail you.
Genesis 26:1 – Now there was a famine in the land—besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar.
During famine, the ideal thing that people did was to go to the neighbouring land where there is no famine. That’s what Abraham did and that’s what Isaac was tempted to do.
But God said something different to Isaac. Gen 26:2,3 - The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you.
What God said would have not made any sense to Isaac. Isaac’s wisdom and past experiences asked him to go to Egypt. But God says No. Isaac had a choice here to make. A very important choice that would determine his future – either listen to God or listen to what his mind says.
He can go to Egypt and try to make his future there or listen to god and be there itself. Isaac made the right choice - the choice to listen to God. He really didn’t know if that was a good decision. But He knew that listening to God is the best decision he can ever take. vs 6 says So Isaac stayed in Gerar..
And what happened. He was immensely blessed. Gen 26:12-14 says Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him. The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him.
This is really interesting! Isaac planted crops in that land. No one will ever plant crops during famine! Those days they did not even have the advantage of technology like us. But Isaac planted putting his faith not in his circumstance but in God.
And the same year he reaped not two-fold or ten-fold but hundred fold. What was the reason? Not his knowledge in farming, not because the climate was favourable, but because he listened to God and the Lord blessed him. He became so rich that as days rolled by, the others envied him.
