We are concluding the message we started last time, on the Power of Choice.

Deuteronomy 30:19

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.

The Power of Choice

PRAYER:

Father, we’ve come again. And we want to commit this time into Your hands, as we pray that You, dear Lord, would speak to us by Your Spirit, in Jesus Name. Amen!

We said that the power of choice is real power. And that is one of the primary differences between us and animals. And every human being, with the exception of one who is insane, makes series of choices on a daily basis.

And we said that there is the power of choice beyond our control. And these are the choices that God and our parents made for us: the choice of race, gender, where we are born. And some people have found in God and their parents the culprits for their failures in life.

But we said that, what determines ultimately what we will become in life is not the choice beyond our control, but the one within our control. Your problems do not stem from the fact that you are a man or a woman, black or white, short or tall, beautiful or basic – as we said last time. That is not where our primary problems stem from.

We gave an example with the current president of the United States, a man whose father was from Kenya – or is from Kenya. A black man! The first black man to be president in the United States – the 44^th president of the United States. From that day nobody would have the guts any more to blame race for not doing well in life.

So, the power of choice within our control is where the matter lies. And we said that within that choice, within our control. We have the thoughts that we think, the words that we speak, our actions or inactions. These are the things that determine ultimately what happens in our lives.

We’ve discussed the power of the thoughts that we think, and the power of the words that we speak. That was where we left it last time. And that was with the sad reminder by the Jews, when they said to Pontius Pilate, when he wanted to release Jesus Christ, they said: His blood be upon us and upon our children.

And we concluded with this sad thought, that they did not know the power of choice they were making with their words; because what happened to them 40 years later, and to their children, was quite unfortunate.

So we make choices by the thoughts we think, by the words we speak; but also by our actions or inactions. Choices made in thoughts and words are often consummated by our action or inactions. Some people permit time to choose for them through procrastination. When you choose to pay a higher bill than what you are supposed to pay because you have been so charged for paying late, you have chosen to pay more than you should pay. And that is because you procrastinated in paying your bill.

Felix the governor chose to procrastinate when challenged to decide for Christ. And that is in Acts 24:25

In Acts 24:25, we read,

²⁵ Now as he reasoned about righteousness [that’s Paul – as Paul reasoned about righteousness], self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.”

That convenient time never came. The timing of the choices we make in life is of great importance. Choices, in my judgment, are time-sensitive – some more time-sensitive than the others.

Speaking of lost opportunities, Charles Spurgeon, in his little book, John Ploughman’s talk, says: “Those who have lost the last coach, and let every opportunity slip by them, turn to abusing providence…” (Here you can substitute God), For setting everything against them.” Some people allow time to choose for them, some people do not make choices because they procrastinate, and when they lose fine opportunities they turn around to blame somebody”

– To blame God.

The power of wise choices!

When we do choose, how wise are our choices? That’s a big question. Given the power of choice, it is dangerous to make an unwise choice. But how can we make a wise choice? Wise choices are informed by the mind of God. And the mind of God is found in the Word of God.

Let’s go back to our scripture, Deuteronomy 30:19. God recommends this wise choice, life.

Deuteronomy 30:19

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.

What does it mean to choose life? God says, wise choice is life. In the context of the Word of God, choosing life is not choosing a thing, is not choosing a concept, but choosing a person.

John 11:25

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.

John 14:6

⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Colossians 3:4

⁴ When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

You have chosen death, not life, when you fail to accept Jesus as your Savior and your Lord. That’s what John 3:16 implies.

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

In other words, whosoever will not believe in Him will perish, and will not have everlasting life. And if you have chosen Christ, how is He your life?

We read in Romans 5:10:

¹⁰ For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

The imparted Christ who lives in the believer is the only reason anyone can live the Christian life. This is what Paul means when he said in Galatians 2:20:

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

He says it also in a different way, in Colossians 1:27: Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ in you is the hope of glory. Christ in the believer thinks, reasons, talks, and asks through him or her, in the person of the Holy Spirit. Anything short of that is not true Christianity.

A number of Christians in Corinth were living this substandard Christian life; and Paul said that they were carnal living like mere men – ordinary men and women. That’s in 1 Corinthians 3:3.

The life of the Christian is not ordinary, but extraordinary, according to John 3:8

John 3:8

⁸ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

– That’s the Christian. It is not an ordinary life – it is extraordinary. And the reason why your life will become extraordinary is because of the life of Christ in you.

Choose life!

The power of choice

And in fact, in that scripture, in Deuteronomy 30, God said in verse 20, to Israel, that God Himself, HE God Himself was their life and the length of their days.

Have you chosen life, friend; have you chosen Christ? Or have you chosen death – eternal separation from God? This is a choice within your control.

Let us pray!

PRAYER:

We thank You again, Lord, for Your precious Word. As many as are praying now in radioland, inviting the Savior into their lives; as many as are praying, asking You to give them the power to make the wise choice in life, I ask, O God, I join them to ask, that You hear them and hear them speedily, please…in the Name of Jesus. Touch their lives, O God, and help each one of us to always choose wisely, in Jesus Name. Amen!