Today, the world is immersed in the hoopla referred to as Super Bowl Sunday. And regardless of whether you are a football fan or not, we recognize that each team had to make critical choices and decisions to reach this level of achievement. But ultimately one will win and one will lose. And no matter how much fun the loser had enroute to this point, at the end there will be sadness and disappointment. But for the winner, their choices and decisions will have resulted in the ultimate thrill of victory as they enjoy the rewards of the sacrifices made to hoist the champion’s trophy.
And while I’m not here to speak about the Super Bowl, I am here to talk about the inevitability of making decisions and the results these decisions will ultimately have on all of us. According to some researchers, the average person makes approximately 35,000 decisions every day. Some decisions are rather routine like what will I wear to church, where will I eat dinner tonight or when will I go for a jog? Other decisions are more consequential like what necessary medical procedure will I select for a major health issue, who will I pick as a life partner in marriage or should I take a lucrative job offer in another country?
But regardless of the impact these emotional or logical decisions have on our temporal lives, they all pale in comparison to the most important decision we will make on this planet which concerns our spiritual lives. And that decision is whether we will serve the Lord or not. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12: 13-14)
Not surprising, there are many factors that go into the decision-making process that we employ thousands of times daily. Scholars have defined that process as “a logical and ordered way to make a choice by engaging such items as identifying the issue, gathering information, considering alternatives, specifically designating one of the options and then implementing that selected course of action.” Admittedly, there are certain circumstances, both internal and external, that can exert a powerful influence on our decisions, but at the end of the day there is no amount of anger, frustration, delusion, temptation, fear or coercion that can take away our God-given right of choice. There are no formulas, procedures, techniques, blueprints or methods that will alter the fact that all choices are purposeful and voluntary no matter how difficult, dangerous or distressing they are.
As the Lord is always trying to encourage you to make the right decisions and choose the right road, there is another murdering manipulator of mayhem who wants to wreak wholesale havoc in your life both now and for eternity, but under a cowardly cloak of camouflage while trying to influence you to choose the path of destruction. Revelation 12: 21 warns us, “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” Therefore we see examples throughout the Bible of people making conscious but unwise choices, succumbing to this evil influence of Satan. They include the stories of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3), Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19), David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11) as well as Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5) who all enjoyed temporary carnal gratification but ultimately reaped the regretful harvest of the deadly seeds they had sown.
But scripture also includes accounts of those who made conscious but wise choices despite being attacked by the same evil influences that overcame the people just mentioned. And unlike the aforementioned, these individuals made decisions that came immediately loaded with significant personal risk, scorching intimidation and unthinkable threats.
These heroes of the faith include Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, better known as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who refused to fall down and worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s manufactured statue of gold even though the King threatened and eventually had them thrown into a fiery furnace. (See Daniel 3) Or when the prophet Daniel refused to follow the Persian King Darius’ royal decree not to pray to God for 30 days or be cast into a lion’s den, Daniel chose to keep getting down on his knees and praying 3 times a day anyway even though he ended up in that same lion’s den. (See Daniel 6) Or when Jesus’ apostles stoked the ire of Jerusalem’s Jewish council thus triggering this response: “And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? …and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” (Acts 5: 27 & 40-42)
But as wonderful as these stories are, the ultimate example of One making a conscious, voluntary and purposeful choice is when our Lord Jesus chose to leave His holy home in heaven to be born in this decaying world and walk as a mere mortal man, committing no sin but bearing every sin for all mankind for all time, willingly taking on the sentence of death that sin had imposed on us all that we might be completely exonerated, and then suffering and dying horribly on the cross to pay the price for our guilt, ultimately rising from the dead with all power to become the Captain of our salvation and the Savior of our souls who now sits on the right hand of God making intercession for us all that we might enjoy the ecstasy of eternity in the pristine presence of Their perfection.
But there is only one way this will occur. You have to be changed. Jesus said, “Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18: 3) The gate to the Kingdom is a constricted and sanitized opening that will not accommodate the wild ways of the world. You must consciously, purposely and voluntarily choose which road you will travel and which gate you will enter. The good news is that when you are truly converted you have already chosen to enter that golden gate (figure of speech) which opens to a holy highway. And let us not misunderstand, that choice is genuinely a choice between life and death because Jesus also said, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7: 13-14)
Christ is using this analogy to tell us that the wide gate says there are many ways to God but the narrow gate says Jesus is the only way to God. The wide gate says to appease the works of the flesh but the narrow gate says to walk in the Spirit. The wide gate says to worship multiple gods and idols but the narrow gate says to worship only the one true God. The wide gate wants you to believe every spirit but the narrow gate warns you to try (test, examine, prove) the spirits. The wide gate forces you down the path where the way of a transgressor is hard but the narrow gate leads you to Jesus whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light. The wide gate believes in a works-based salvation but the narrow gate knows we are saved by grace through faith. The wide gate puts you on sinking sand but the narrow gate places you on a firm foundation. The wide gate wants you to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season but the narrow gate willingly accepts suffering for this present time confident that it isn’t worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us. The wide gate is a dirt road that dumps you into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone but the narrow gate is the Diamond Lane that sails smoothly into the heavenly harbor of New Jerusalem.
Now think about this. The fact that we have chosen to serve God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength is in itself a sifter and a divider. Not everyone will want to live this life or will be able to sacrifice and endure this life because there will be suffering and persecution along the way. A direct result will be that the road we travel may be lonely, sparsely populated and not very many will make it through, or even make it to that narrow gate.
But since Jesus implores you to choose that narrow gate, we lovingly prompt you to do the same, beckoning you to hear, understand and believe the “suggestion” that even God Himself gives in Deuteronomy 30: 19 which says, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him: for He is thy life, and the length of thy days…” Realize that along with any trial or tribulation you may encounter, our Father is offering you delights indescribable such as prayers laced with power, faith that moves mountains, love that never fails, joy that is unspeakable, peace which passes all understanding and a well of spiritual water that springs up into life everlasting.
To whoever is reading this, if you’re still undecided and haven’t made up your mind about which way to go, I have to be very candid and tell you that you’ve already made up your mind. If you haven’t decided to follow Jesus, you’ve decided not to follow Jesus. You do not have the luxury of trying to straddle the fence or set up shop on some middle ground between gates because that place does not exist. The Bible refers to that attempt and attitude as being “lukewarm.” A disgusting condition causing a righteous God to spew you out of His mouth. You cannot be halt (crippled) between two opinions and you certainly will not be allowed to be neutral. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6: 24) As the prophet Elijah told the people just as he was about to call on the power of God to humiliate and then decimate Queen Jezebel’s religious liars on Mount Carmel, “How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him.” (1 Kings 18: 21)
But if you are one of those who have made up your mind and are faithfully following Jesus, I urge you to stay on track, keep to the road and don’t wander off the path. Of course anyone who comes to the gate will roll up raggedy but because of God we come through clean. Moses’ successor Joshua issued the same admonishment to the Children of Israel when they were travelling through the desert and preparing to enter into the promised land. And although Joshua tried to persuade them to make the right decision, ultimately the choice would be theirs. “Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24: 14-15)
What about as for you? Are you willing to totally and faithfully commit to choosing Jesus, being a partaker of His beauty and His benefits and say, “As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice.” (Psalm 55: 16)
Or this, “Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way: Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things He hath done for you.” (1 Samuel 12: 23)
Or this, “But as for me, I will come into Thy house in the multitude of Thy mercy: and in Thy fear will I worship toward Thy holy temple. But let all those that put their trust in Thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because Thou defendest them: let them also that love Thy name be joyful in Thee. For Thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt Thou compass him as with a shield.” (Psalm 5: 7 & 12)
Or how about this? “But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me. My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the LORD.” (Psalm 26: 11-12)
Or finally this, “But as for me, my prayer is unto Thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of Thy mercy hear me, in the truth of Thy salvation.” (Psalm 69: 13)
Always keep in mind our ultimate objective and remember that it is an incredible honor, privilege and blessing to be a child of the King. So, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.” (Psalm 100: 4-5)
The choice is yours. And only one choice will make it a good one. “There is none good but One, that is, God.” (Mark 10: 18) So make it good. Make it God.
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