THE POWER OF CHOICE: PART I-Choose or be damned
‘ When you decide not to make a choice, you have made a choice’.
There is a power handed down to every human being that cannot be taken away as long as the earth remains, and that is the Power of Choice. The power behind choice can be negative or positive. Choices can be long term or short term and the consequences and repercussions can also be long term or short term. Choice is the key to change, if you need to change something about your life, then you need to make some choices or decision, to bring about that change.
If you decide today to live a life of promiscuity, then you must be ready for a life of misery and suffering because life will catch up with you until you reap what you were sowing. Many young people today have chosen a life of pleasure and carefree actions without bearing in mind the ramifications. The most successful people we have today are not those that spent their lifetime in pleasure and fun but those that sacrificed fun for hard work and undying commitment to fulfilment of their dreams. A lot of young people have ended up in prison, in hospital beds and on the obituary column because they went down the road most term the short-cut to success. Most people that go down that road never came back in one piece or never came back at all. The only way to a flourishing tomorrow is a today full of hard work and sacrifice.
What is even more significant is this; God said, “I lay before you life and death, blessing and cursing…” Deuteronomy 30:19. He then gives us a clue to the best option; He says CHOOSE LIFE. You can choose to leave the passing pleasures of life and enjoy and an eternity full of happiness or you can choose the passing sinful pleasure of this world and suffer an eternity full of regret and pain. All this for one choice, that’s how powerful a choice can be. You can choose today to secure a better tomorrow.
Esau opted to trade his birthright as first-born for a bowl of soup. He did so because he was tired and hungry; he needed that soup so bad that if he didn’t get it from his brother he would have dropped dead. Really? Of course not, but that’s how he felt at the time and he ended making a permanent decision for a temporary situation. Don’t trade your destiny for momentary pleasure.
This world we live in has a lot to offer and it takes a person with wisdom to make the best decisions. St Paul puts it this way; ‘all things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial, all things are lawful but not all things edify’ 2 Corinthians 10:23. That word edify, means to benefit spiritually or improve morally. The decisions you make have a generational impact. So whatever choice you make, ask yourself what significance it is going to have on your life two years from now? That way every choice you make you will make it wisely. MOVE.
THE POWER OF CHOICE: PART II-Take Charge
‘The choices you make will be the prisons you create’ Maurice Mvula
Your life is the sum total of the decisions you make every day. Life is filled with alternatives: we are constantly and our preferences reveal who we are and what we value in life. What you are now is the sum total of the decisions you have made the last fifteen to twenty years of your life. What is perhaps even more significant is that you can tell the kind of life you are going to have in the future by the decisions you are making today. In essence, the future really is now. Never make the mistake of thinking you can make bad choices today and make up for them later on. Whatever you are doing now is your tomorrow. That is why ‘yes’ and ‘no’ are the most important words you will ever say. God wants you to be able to say them with precision because they will determine your destiny. Even though you have the liberty to do anything you want, not everything is beneficial to you. As we quoted earlier from 2 Corinthians 10:23. Beneficial means appropriate, suitable or desirable. You have to determine what is beneficial. You decide what is beneficial based on the needs of your vision. In Genesis 49 Joseph decided to run from Potiphar’s wife because his vision required him to do so. Paul continues to say ‘…. but I will not be mastered by anything.” Therefore, the only things that should master you are those that will take you to your destiny. Just because something is good does not make it beneficial to you. If for instance you have a vision to lose weight by going on a diet, you can have all the greasy and juicy food at your disposal but your vision demands that you do not get your hands on just about anything. Your vision will streamline your choices. Indecision is a decision not to decide. Before you make a commitment there are more vital aspects to consider besides your feelings. When you decide to quit smoking, get rid of the ash trays. A firm decision must precede affirmative action. Your choices have the power to give life or bring death. Genesis 2:15. Adam’s decision to disobey God gave death power over him. Death had no influence on his life till the day he decided to disobey God.
1 Corinthians 15:56 ‘the sting of death is sin’, and sin comes by one’s choice to disobey God. If Adam had not decided to sin death would still exist, but without power or life to kill. By way of your choice, something sleeping or lifeless can be brought to life. That is how powerful your choice can be. MOVE