Making Good Choices
Making Good Choices
(Making Godly Choices)
December 18th, 2004 and December 19th, 2004
Introduction
I heard about a young man asking an older and wiser man the secret to success in life. The older man said “GOOD CHOICES”. So the young man asked how to learn to make good choices to which the older man replied; “BAD CHOICES”.
-I want to talk about making good choices. God wants us to and we want to choose wisely. We are faced with so many decisions and choices in our lives that we would like to know how to follow God and make some wise ones.
How many have ever made bad choices? We all have.
Joel 3 NIV
14 /Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! [1] /
I grew up watching that show where you had to pick door #1, #2 or #3.
Former president Ronald Reagan once had an aunt who took him to a cobbler for a pair of new shoes. The cobbler asked young Reagan, "Do you want square toes or round toes?" Unable to decide, Reagan didn't answer, so the cobbler gave him a few days. Several days later the cobbler saw Reagan on the street and asked him again what kind of toes he wanted on his shoes. Reagan still couldn't decide, so the shoemaker replied, "Well, come by in a couple of days. Your shoes will be ready." When the future president did so, he found one square-toed and one round-toed shoe! "This will teach you to never let people make decisions for you," the cobbler said to his indecisive customer. "I learned right then and there," Reagan said later, "if you don't make your own decisions, someone else will."
Today in the Word, MBI, August, 1991, p. 16.
During World War II, Winston Churchill was forced to make a painful choice. The British secret service had broken the Nazi code and informed Churchill that the Germans were going to bomb Coventry. He had two alternatives: (1) evacuate the citizens and save hundreds of lives at the expense of indicating to the Germans that the code was broken; or (2) take no action, which would kill hundreds but keep the information flowing and possibly save many more lives. Churchill had to choose and followed the second course.
Klyne Snodgrass, Between Two Truths - Living with Biblical Tensions, 1990, Zondervan Publishing House, p. 179.
HOW do we make wise choices?
1. If You Want to Make Good Choices You Have to Really Want God to Help You.
-Sometimes we can have the attitude of “I want to go to heaven but God please leave me alone.”
-The key to making good choices or being led by the Holy Spirit is that you have to want God’s help.
-You can do it on your own but you are stuck with your knowledge and intellect. I don’t want to be left to myself.
Proverbs 1
22 /“How long will you simple ones b love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? 23 If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you. [2] /
Isaiah 53
6 /We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; [3] /
-God wants to be our counselor. He knows the future. He knows you intimately. It would be very wise to let Him tell you the best choice.
Proverbs 3
5 /Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. a 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. [4] /
-The Hebrew for acknowledge is;
/information about a person, with a focus on the relationship with that person[5] / to make oneself known, reveal oneself./
-In other words you pour out all you know about the situation to God and look to Him for direction.
-Billy Joe Daugherty said; “In order to be led by the Spirit of God, you have to believe that you are.”
2. You Start with Your Decision Making in the Things God has already told us – The Bible.
Joshua 1
7 “Only be strong and very courageous; 1abe careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may 2have success wherever you go.
8 “aThis book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may 1be careful to do according to all that is written in it; bfor then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will 2have success. (act wisely)[6]
-Some things are covered already in the Book. Why reinvent the wheel.
-Some things are commands; they are obvious. Other things are principles.
Example
If I am attracted to a member of the opposite sex and they aren’t a Christian; should I date them? That is covered in the Book. “Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers.”
Example
I need to buy one more Christmas present and I am a little short of cash. I pull into Fastlane and buy gas and it is so busy that the lady gives me an extra twenty. Do I see that as God providing my need? That is covered in the Book. God doesn’t steal someone else’s money to bless you. “Thou shall not steal”.
-See, a whole lot of choices just got easier.
Example
Someone offers you a great investment and you look into your daily horoscope to see if it has anything to say about it. That’s covered in the book. “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD.” (Deuteronomy 18:10-11).
-You get the point, some things are clear. Probably much more than we think is already covered.
3. Follow Your Conscience
Proverbs 11 NIV
3 /The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. [7] /
God’s Word translation says;
Proberbs 11:3 GWT
“Integrity guides decent people, but hypocrisy leads treacherous people to ruin.”
-This is simply the difference between right and wrong.
-This is simply being guided by the value system in your heart.
-There are some tough choices out there.
-It is amazing how much of a conflict it becomes about where married children are going for the Holidays.
-A couple gets married and all of the places each child used to go for Christmas is expected by the parents. The first year they do everything. Then they decide to whittle it down. Look out! Your choice has consequences. Be bold and do what is right.
-The best description of this is “peace in your heart”.
Colossians 3 Amplified
“15 And let he peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds….]….”
-An umpire calls the play. Safe or out. So peace is to be the umpire in your choices and decisions.
An insert here is that you need to establish God-honoring priorities in order to make good decisions /choices. Our choices are governed by our priorities whether we recognize it or not. Our choices also reveal our priorities.
Relationship with the Lord
Relationship to myself
Relationship to my wife
Relationship to children
Relationship to my church
Etc.
In other words, my priorities make me choose where I will spend my time, money, and energy. I would never leave my family and go overseas if God wasn’t first in my life.
I wouldn’t leave a place where there was a good church feeding my family to move to Timbuktu where there isn’t a church. My priorities made my decision for me.
4. Get Counsel and Advice
-I get lots of outside help when I make decisions.
-I can make an expert choice and not know anything about the subject we are talking about.
-People will pay a fortune for good advice.
Proverbs 12 NIV
15 /The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice. [8]/
Proverbs 19 NIV
20 /Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. [9] /
Proverbs 13 NIV/10 Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice. [10]/
-Take some time to do the research. Ask someone who has done what you want to do.
-The internet is filled with information.
-God has placed you around people who have knowledge and maybe even expertise in an area. Value and use that info.
-Who are you counselors and mentors? You will start following them if you are hanging with them.
Example
I read a story this week about a bull rider who became good and reached the top of the amateur circuit. He wanted to turn pro so he asked a guy who lived close and had been a champion to mentor him. The first thing he told him was to quit the amateur circuit. He said as long as he was hanging around amateurs he would think like an amateur. He went in one day from top of the amateurs to bottom of the professionals. Then later he said to travel with bull riders who were winning or else travel alone. (That is Biblical; A companion of the wise grows wise but a companion of fools suffers harm.)
5. Make Choices with the Long Term in Mind
(insert “5 steps in Making Good Choices”)
Hebrews 11
24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt/, because he was looking ahead to his reward. [11] /
-We could give plenty of examples of people who made choices that others thought were wrong at the time. Later they paid off.
-MOSES made a choice to sacrifice and suffer in the short term so he could benefit in the long term.
-Let’s compare him with another Bible character; ESAU.
Hebrews 12
16 /See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. 17 Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears. [12] /
-You know the story. Esau was hungry and Jacob traded him a meal for the inheritance rights in his family.
-He valued the short term pleasures more than the long term payoff.
-When you make a choice ask yourself if you are doing it for the long term or the satisfaction of the moment.
-It has always been important to God that humans have the ability to make choices.
-Remember in the garden. We got into this mess because of Adam and Eve’s wrong choice.
Deuteronomy 30 NIV
19 /This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. [13] /
-Notice how our choices affect us and other generations.
-Maybe you have made some bad choices and you need to throw yourself on His mercy. We all do.
Prayer-wisdom/right choices
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[1]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Joe 3:14). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
b The Hebrew word rendered simple in Proverbs generally denotes one without moral direction and inclined to evil.
[2]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Pr 1:22). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[3]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Is 53:6). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
a Or will direct your paths
[4]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Pr 3:5). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[5]Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.) (HGK1978). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
1 Lit observe
a Deut 5:32
2 Or act wisely
a Deut 31:24; Josh 8:34
1 Lit observe
b Deut 29:9; Ps 1:1–3
2 Or act wisely.
[6]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (Jos 1:7). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[7]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Pr 11:3). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[8]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Pr 12:15). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[9]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Pr 19:20). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[10]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Pr 13:10). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[11]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Heb 11:24). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[12]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Heb 12:16). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[13]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Dt 30:19). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.