Making good decisions
Deuteronomy 30:19 (NLT) “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!”
We make decisions all day long, every day. Some of those decisions are big and some are small, but all decisions have consequences. Every action we take causes a reaction. We, as believers in Jesus Christ, have an advantage in our decision-making. We can, and should, always be led by the Spirit of God.
I know there is a popular saying that I’ve heard, and that is, “I just believe what was meant to be will be.” I can tell you that sounds religious, but it’s not even true. God has made us all with free wills, and what we decide, many times, cannot be overridden by God. Let’s look at how God set it up.
In Deuteronomy 30:19 the Lord told us how this life was set up. He said, “I call Heaven and Earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed shall live.” He called Heaven and Earth “to record,” meaning this is how it works. Life and death are set before us, and we must choose. We must choose every day, all day.
The life you and I have today is the sum total of all the choices we have made thus far. I am not saying that if you made a bad choice, you are stuck with it because God will deliver you out of all of your trouble (2 Corinthians 1:10); but to say we are not in control of our own lives, and it doesn’t matter what we do, is ridiculous. We even see that Moses had to choose between living in the pleasures of sin for a season or going God’s way and obeying God (Hebrews 11:25). We also see what the Message Bible calls the “Esau Syndrome” in Hebrews 12:16-17: “Watch out for the Esau syndrome: trading away God’s lifelong gift in order to satisfy a short-term appetite. You well know how Esau later regretted that impulsive act and wanted God’s blessing, but by then it was too late, tears or no tears.”
The impulsive decision that Esau made, because of a circumstance, cost him dearly. It is a great example of the importance of all our decisions, even when the pressure is on, and the circumstances may be against us. Since we have to make these decisions and because we are born-again, it would be good for us to get some of God’s advice or His wisdom. The Bible says wisdom is the principal thing, and we should get it (Proverbs 4:7). In Proverbs 23:4, we are told to cease from our own wisdom.
Also, very important is what is said to us in the book of James about wisdom. The Word says that if you need wisdom, ask for it (James 1:5). “If any man lack wisdom,” and that includes all of us. We all lack the wisdom of God, so we should ask for it.
The other way to get God’s wisdom is to renew your mind with the Word of God. God’s thoughts and ways are higher than our thoughts and ways, but He wrote them all down, so we could have them. The more of God’s wisdom you have, the better decisions you will make.