Your Choice

"I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before Him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away."
~Ecclesiastes 3:14-15

"What's gonna happen already has. The only thing you can do is your very best, and remember, you only get one chance to make a good first impression." That's the advice I've given my kids on numerous occasions. The last time was just a couple of weeks ago when my youngest son called while on his way to the "most important interview" of his life. 

Our lives have a determined pattern; we are born, go through stages of growth, go to school, graduate, get a job, meet the right person, get married, have kids and the process starts all over again. Hopefully, along the way we have good people in our lives who show us by example how to make the most out of life, but all too often that isn't the case. We don't always get the great parents. We don't always get born into the best family. We don't get the greatest opportunities in education or jobs. We don't always meet the right person. Sometimes it seems like everything that can go wrong does. But no matter what, we always have the opportunity to make better choices. 

"When a man's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice. The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps (Proverbs 16:7-9)."

No matter what left turns we have taken, or how messed up our lives become, we can make the choice to find a better direction. The way of righteousness may seem far off, but God is as close as a single prayer and He will change your life if you allow Him to.

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1-4)."

No matter where we are, where we've been, or what we've done, as long as there is breath in our body, we have the opportunity to change where we're going. We have choices in life, and no matter what those around us are saying or doing, we can choose to change the road we're on. We choose what to say, how to respond in any given situation, and when we make a choice, we are also choosing the consequences of life or death. When we choose to continue down the path that has already shown us nothing good, we are choosing death. When we make the choice for change, and follow the path God wants us on, we choose life. 

"Now therefore fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:14-15)."

Remember the last line of Ecclesiastes 3:15 above... "God seeks what has been driven away." If you're lost, you can be found. God will always answer those who seek Him with a right heart, and He will answer those who ask with right motives. 

My son got the job he interviewed for.

Read 1 Kings 1-2; Ecclesiastes 3; Romans 8

©2018 Marie McGaha