Life's Choices

Life Choices

I would like you to stand up please. Now wave your hands around.

If you are uncomfortable, please sit down. If you want more fun, stay standing.

Those of you that sat down are people.

You are like the wicked, like the chaff that the wind drives away.

The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Those of you who are still standing are people.

You are like trees planted by streams of water…

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

What is the difference between and people? What is the difference between the wicked and the righteous, between those who prosper and those who perish?

The difference between a and a person is found in who you listen to.

(ESV) —1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

There is a progression in this verse. The person walks, stands and then sits.

A person who is walking in the counsel of the wicked is listening to the wrong people.

They are listening to bad advise and following it. They would tell you that it is not bad advise. It hasn’t hurt them.

People tell them, “Your parents are stupid… Don’t do what they say.” You have plenty of evidence to back up this claim. So you do what the wicked do to see how stupid it is.

Our world is trying to squeeze you into its mold. We face enormous pressure to make money, get a good education, and succeed in life.

Yet, when we hear about these things what is missing is the Christian worldview. It is the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom. So many parents, so many children, so many people give lip service to Jesus when he said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.”

We say it, but we don’t live it.

They are ignoring all the warning signs.

The warning signs are there!

Joseph sounded arrogant to his brothers and was a favorite of his father. When they came, all his brothers decided to kill him. They agreed to lie about it and came up with the same story.

One of the brothers, Reuben, caught one of the warning signs. He felt murder was going too far. So he told his brothers to throw Joseph into a pit. His plan was to come back later and rescue him.

Unfortunately for him, or fortunately as it turns out later, a caravan was coming by. Judah, another brother, had a brilliant idea. He saw money in that moment. He convinced his brothers to sell Joseph into slavery. Better to get some money than to have him die for no gain. So they did.

It didn’t turn out as they hoped. It never does for the wicked. They thought Dad would get over the supposed death of his son, Joseph, but he never did. It broke his heart. It destroyed his spirit.

There are many who are ruining their families because they are walking in the counsel of the ungodly. They are telling you, “Stand up to him or her.” “If he or she is going to treat you that way, go find someone else who will meet your needs.” We get bad advise in many ways.

Don’t you wish that someone in the Watergate scandal had stood up and said, “This is a really bad idea.”

Don’t you wish that someone had said to the young man who allegedly killed a woman in Charlottesville, “Don’t listen to the people who are feeding you with ugliness.”

What happens when we walk in the counsel of the ungodly, when we start to do what we know is wrong, when we ignore the warnings that a person like Reuben heard and Judah did not, we end up standing in the way or the path of the sinners.

What started with our ears has caused us to start down a path. That path is the path of sinners.

The word “way” is the Bible’s version of the word “road.” We often speak of people who are headed down the wrong road.

The road of the sinners is always the wrong road.

When we listen to the counsel of the ungodly, we end up standing on the wrong road.

If you are driving and you are on the wrong road, you are lost. You may not think you are lost, but you are lost.

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. He came to take people who are on the wrong road and bring them to the right road.

But if you are listening to the counsel of the ungodly, you are standing in the wrong place.

You know you are in the wrong place when you end up sitting in the seat of the scornful.

In other words, you make fun of people who are on the right road. You have gone from a listener to a talker. You are now influencing others to stay away from what is good and right. You have gone from a user to a pusher.

I’ve heard people who have made and are making very poor financial decisions talking about successful people.

They will say, “They got a silver spoon. Someone broke the law to get that kind of money. I’ll bet they slept their way to the top. They think they are so much better than we are.”

All that is scorn. They don’t even know the people they are making fun of. They don’t acknowledge the hard work, the extra hours, the amount of time they spent doing grunt work in order to succeed. They don’t realize that the only difference between them and the people who are succeeding is in who they are listening to.

The scornful are listening to the wicked. Those who have success are listening to better advice and doing it.

How does a person know if the advice they are given is good or bad?

If you want to change your life, start by delighting yourself in the law of the Lord.

2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

The person who delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it, who thinks about it, can use the law of the Lord as a measuring tool for the advice they are given. If what people say supports the Bible, it’s good advice. If it goes against the Bible, it’s bad advice. It may look good on the surface, but there are hidden dangers that you will only see as you walk down that wrong road.

One thing the Bible helps us do is look down the road.

If you live for God you will prosper!

Some might think I am promoting the prosperity gospel. The prosperity gospel says that if you believe in Jesus he will forgive your sins, heal your diseases, make you rich and you will have a great life. They will tell you it is not God’s will that you be sick or poor. They promise that if you give, God will give back so much more…usually in money or health.

That is not what the Bible teaches at all. Look at Paul, a man who was both poor and sick. Look at Jesus who didn’t own a home and suffered a painful death.

What the Bible is telling us is that our quality of life is directly connected with the choices we make.

If we want to have things, things will keep us from the life God wants us to have. If we want to have friends, that desire for friendship will stop us from having the best life God could have for us. If we want to live for God, that life may provide both material success and relationship success.

We are the sum of our decisions. The best road to a prosperous life, a life that fulfills us and pleases God, is found in walking in the counsel of the Word of God, in standing in the path that Jesus gives, and in sitting in the seat of those who worship God.

Look where the people we listen to are heading!

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Where are the people you are listening to going to be in ten years, twenty years, or in eternity?

Will they be in jail? Will they be dead because of their bad choices? Will they be living hand to mouth, dependent on others and on the government, not because they got a bad break, but because they made bad choices?

If you are having marital problems, don’t talk to someone who has been divorced ten times. They will not give you the best counsel. We think we learn by our mistakes. Some do, but many, many people repeat the same mistakes just with a different person, or in a different job, or in a different state. Talk to someone who has a good marriage. You will get a better perspective.

What about for eternity? The wicked that mock Christianity will one-day face judgment. On that day that they appear before God, they will not stand, they will fall guilty before him. They will not be in the congregation of the righteous; they will be out. The way of the wicked will perish.

Do you really want to be part of that group?

Life’s choices… Our jails are full of people who have made bad choices and thrown away years of their lives. Our cemeteries are filled with people who died too young, who wasted their God-given potential to pursue the path of the wicked.

For those of you who agree with this message, you are the ones who know Jesus. You have light. Shine it in the darkness you see in your families, among your neighbors, and in the places you work and move.

We whine and complain about how bad our country is becoming. Let’s not be part of the wickedness. Let’s be sure that the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts are acceptable to the Lord.

The Lord knows the way of the righteous. That path does not perish. The reason God gave us this Psalm was to give us a second chance. We have all gone astray. We have all been on the wrong path. God gave us a second chance and he gives one to you as well. That second chance is found in Jesus. God loves you and sent Jesus to forgive your sins and give you a second chance. Trust him.