Daily Thought for Thursday, May 19th

May 19, 2011

Choices 

“Between two evils, choose neither; between two goods choose both.”

-  Tryon Edwards

Today’s Thought:

“A wise person cares not for what he cannot have but for what he can.” – Unknown (from a fortune cookie at a Chinese Restaurant)

Today’s Question

Have you ever stopped to consider this:  “As a man thinketh so is he, and as a man chooseth so is he?” – Ralph Waldo Emerson (from Essays on Spiritual Laws)

Today’s Spiritual Thought:

“I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –

I took the one less traveled by,

And that made all the difference. ”

- Robert Frost (from ‘The Road Not Taken’)

“ And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve;…

… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

- The Bible (Joshua 24:15)

“Guess if you can, choose if you dare.”

 – Pierre Corneille

Each of us, at some juncture in our journey through life has probably, upon coming to a conclusion on a particular matter, stated, “I had no choice in the matter.”

Yet, in truth life is like a very extensive menu or an expansive smorgasbord; in reality, there are so many choices it seems hard to limit our options to one or two and be content with them.

Sometimes the same seems true in our spiritual life as well.  Of course the most significant and vital choice we must make is whether we will believe and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior or if we will reject the gift God is offering us in the form of salvation.

And this indeed is a choice.  God does not force us to accept Him or coerce us into believing in Him.  He is, of course; “…not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” – The Bible ( 2 Peter 3:9)   But He lets each individual choose for himself promising that, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” – The Bible (Romans 10:13)

Once this choice is made the other choices become easier.  Of course if we reject Him, we have made the choice to continue living in sin and we have decided to stay on the path to death and destruction that will lead to the eternal flames of Hell.

If we choose to accept His salvation while the natural life we live may still seem resplendent with choices, spiritually our choices become less diverse.  Either we choose to obey or we choose to disobey.

I know this is a bit of a simplification of the issue but the reality is simply that, scripture says this:  “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” – The Bible 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts. To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” – The Bible (Proverbs 21:2-3)

George Moore said, “The difficulty in life is the choice.”

What choice will you make?

Today’s Verses:

But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

Luke 10:40-42

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:…   

Proberbs 23:7(a)

According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.  For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:  Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.  And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;

                        Philippians 1:20-25

Today’s Prayer:

Father, I know you want a loyal servant, not a slave, so you left the choices up to me.  So help me to choose wisely, obediently and faithfully to live for you and to defer to you when other choices need to be made.