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| Make
Up Your Mind
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| Dee Bowman |
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Deciding is what man is all about. Free
moral agency, in the purest sense, is deciding what to do. Man
is blessed above all others of God’s creatures in that he is
given the right of choice. It’s perhaps a bit simplistic to
say it this way, but this coming year will be basically composed
of a series of choices you will make. Some will be simple, some
complicated. Some will produce happiness, some will bring
sorrow. Some will have dire consequences, others little at all.
But, all in all, the year will be a series of choices. Your
choices.
God, in His mercy, has given us a standard by which to measure
our decisions. That standard is fixed and immutable. It deals
not only with the choices themselves, but assigns the attitudes
that should appertain to them. That standard is basically
comprehended in the enjoinder of Peter, the Apostle, who said,
“if any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any
man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God
supplieth, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus
Christ…” (1 Peter 4:11).
The decisions we make are predicated on the first choice we
make—that of whom we will serve. “Choose ye this day whom ye
will serve” (Joshua 24:14-15). From the time that preference
is decided, our choices follow along that course. Succinctly
stated, we will make our choices based on whom we decide to
serve. A man who decides to give his life to Jesus serves Jesus.
A man who decides to serve himself does so because he has
determined to do so. “For they that are after the flesh do
mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit
the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5). It’s as simple as
that.
It behooves each of us to exercise great care in deciding how we
will plot our course of action in the coming year. First of all,
it’s imperative that we make a decision early on that God’s
word will determine how we decide what to do. Second, it is also
important that we consider carefully how the enemy will seek to
deter our efforts and thereby affect our choices. The
recognition of these two simple but important factors will form
for us a suitable basis on how to decide in the new year.
In my first That’s Life book (p. 166), I made some simple
suggestions you might find useful in deciding matters in the
coming year. You might want to consider them.
Four things to consider before you decide: 1) Will it inhibit my
flight toward God? 2) Will it tend to tarnish my influence?
3)Will it edify or simply satisfy? 4)Will it stop there? And
what if it doesn’t? Look at them one at a time.
Will it inhibit my flight toward God?
We are all involved in a journey toward God and we must allow
nothing to diminish our efforts, or take us off course. Poor
decisions will affect our flight pattern. It behooves us to take
careful consideration of our decisions relative to our eternal
destination.
Will it tend to tarnish my influence?
Influence is a prized possession. It should be guarded
tenaciously. Some decisions can diminish our influence, retard
our effectiveness in the kingdom. Actually, about all you have
is your influence. When it is dented, you can no longer do your
best work among your fellows because you light becomes dim.
Will it edify or simply satisfy?
It’s easy to make selfish choices, the kind that bring quick
pleasure and impose little difficulty. And while they serve to
keep us comfortable, they do little to cause progress in our
spiritual lives, nor do they bring us closer to spiritual
maturity.
Will it stop there? And what if it doesn’t?
We must be aware that choices inevitably have
consequences—they keep going. The choice itself may be a
simple one-time thing, but, like a seed planted, it produces
after its own kind. We can’t escape the consequences of our
decisions, so we would do well to consider the possible
consequences before making the initial choice. A poor choice
will invariably lead to something we don’t want at all. A good
choice may lead to some difficulty, but its result is always
favorable in the end.
No decision is so small that it doesn’t deserve consideration.
It’s wise to make even the smallest decisions carefully
because the method with which you make the little choices will
likely form the habitude which produces the important ones. Be
careful how you choose.
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Copyright (C)
2008
Southside Church of Christ
All rights reserved.
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