Choices. In our life time we make many choices. We choose, who we marry, what school to go to, how many children to have, what we eat, the clothes we wear. But how many have ever thought that they’ve made the wrong choices in life? Most of our choices are made in the spur of the moment, on appearance or usefulness. Some choices are made by lust or desire, some choices are made by the mind instead of the heart. Does appearance really matter? If you said yes, your in a tricky situation with Jesus.The Apostle Paul stated that Jesus was a man, ”Hard to Look upon.” In other-words the appearance of Jesus was not desirable to our standards today. The disciples were chosen by Jesus and not the other way around. They followed him by spirit and not by sight. The way the scriptures read, God wanted man to follow Jesus because of His message and not because he was handsome. Some times the least looking plant, later blooms in to the most beautiful. You women know what I’m talking about, don’t you ? A rose would not be a rose ,without the thorns. Remember the old saying, ”A Rose by any other name ,is still a Rose.” ? Jesus is referred to as ,”The Rose of Sharon.” When we see someone who is deformed, do we look away or do we feel sorry for them, do we pray for them or do we thank God that we are not like them. Read 2nd Cor. 10:7. Our chose here is an important one, remember the two that came before God and the first bragged about his prayer time and his tithing and at last he thanked God that he wasn’t like the other man, you all know the story. And remember the other man, when he prayed, all he asked was , ” God ,be mercy-full unto me a sinner.” The Bible states that,” We will give an account of every idle word we speak.” We look at the outer person much more than we should. Ask yourself this question, do you chose a mate based on appearance or attitude? Do you chose a automobile on the appearance,or usefulness , what about your church, did you chose this church because of the appearance, location, number of members or was it something else. Was it because you needed to hear the truth , no matter how hard it was for you to accept it. Our lives as christians are a difficult one. We believe without seeing and we worship from the spirit and not the mind. Our hearts have been removed and replaced with a life force that the world cannot understand or except. Do you realize that you are here today because it was ordained by God ? He knew that you would be here, He knew that you would be listening to this sermon, and He knew whom here today needed to here this. Every choice we make, if based on the word of God, will prosper us in one way or another. What God has ordained will be accomplished, but those things that He doesn’t ordain, He is under no obligation to finish. We make choices sometimes that we say are ordained by God but we actually made them ourselves. Did you chose Jesus or did He choose you? Can you chose the day of your birth, what about the day of you death, can you chose to be saved ? The answer to the last three is , NO. What do you mean preacher, I chose to come to Jesus. But realize that you made that choice and was accepted after God chose you. You cannot come to Jesus and be saved anytime you want to, this choice is not yours to make. Need proof ? Ill give it to you. Lets go to the scriptures and sort all this out. 1st Peter 1:15, 1st Cor. 7:22, John 6:44, Matthew 11:27, 22:14 and Romans 10:14-15. Romans 13:2 is another good example of making a final choice. God forces no man to serve Him. To be saved the Bible is very specific, you must be call or drawn by the spirit of God. Without that calling you cannot come to Jesus. This is why it is very important, when you receive the calling or feel the drawing power of the Holy Ghost, to accept the free gift that God offers you. There is no where in scripture that states that God is under any obligation to call a man twice. It states for us to ,”Make your calling and election sure.” When you are drawn by the spirit unto conviction ,this is you time of extreme choice. You have the choice to accept the call of God or reject it. The choice is yours to make. The greatest choice you will ever make and one that will last an eternity. Make the right choice, make it today, if the spirit is calling you accept Jesus, for you may not have another day to make this choice. ars.
