Choice

Fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.  But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD (Joshua 24:14-15).

Let’s talk about luck.

Luck.  Good fortune.  A happy coincidence.  Serendipity.  No matter what name you hang on it, most people believe in luck.  Luck is when you experience something good, even though the odds were stacked against you. 

Some people say that you can make your own luck.  You can work hard to maximize your chances for success.  By studying all the variables, you can position yourself to be in the best place at the best time with the best skills to achieve success.  You can tilt luck in your favor. 

Of course, mathematicians don’t see luck—they see statistics and probability.  A math whiz can analyze information and calculate the percentages for various results.  People use such calculations to set odds on the outcome of a sporting event.  Statistics and probability are behind every weather forecast.   You can’t play successfully in the stock market if you don’t understand the relationship between risk and payoff.

But is there such a thing as luck?  Mathematics says no—over time, success and failure will cancel each other out.  Good luck and bad luck are nothing but statistical extremes.  And most people believe this—after a run of good fortune, they brace themselves for the time when luck finally runs out.  By the same token, people who feel beaten up by life take comfort in the hope that eventually their luck will take a turn for the better.

Do you believe in luck?  I don’t.  I don’t believe that the universe is governed by chance or probability.  I don’t believe that things happen by accident.  I believe that God made the universe.  I believe that He keeps His fingers in its’ day to day affairs, making sure that His will is done on earth as it is in heaven.  Speaking of Jesus, Paul writes in Colossians chapter one He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible…all things were created by him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  When good things happen, I thank God for His blessings.  When bad things happen, I ask God to help me trust in Him and rely on Him.  I don’t believe in luck, because I believe in God.  If luck is real, then no one is in charge of the universe.  If God is real, I don’t need luck to get by.  Gamblers say that luck is fickle, but I know that God always loves me.

Now let’s talk about fate.

Some people talk as if the future is set in stone. Some look for the job they were born to do.  Others wonder about their purpose in life. Romantics look for their one, true love. 

Some believe that their future is decided on the day of their birth.  They might say, “I was born this way” as if change is impossible.  Others make decisions about the best way forward according to their birth sign—they believe that their future is written in the stars.

It can be reassuring, believing that the future is all mapped out.  You can say, “everything happens for a reason” and find comfort during a time of tragedy.  But some resent being chained to destiny; they rebel against any suggestion that the future is preordained.  They want the freedom to choose their own path instead of dancing helplessly like a puppet while someone else pulls the strings. 

I don’t believe that the future is written in stone.  I don’t believe that birth determines the course of one’s life.  God does not dictate our actions.  We see it already in the Garden of Eden.  God told Adam and Eve what the rules were, but He did not stop them from disobeying.  Sadly, they made a terrible choice that has tainted every one of us with imperfection and a rebellious streak.

There are only two absolutes in the universe—God’s justice and God’s love.  His justice demanded punishment in hell for all lawbreakers.  His love offered us a way to escape that awful destiny.  God’s Son suffered as our substitute; our assured punishment was shifted over to Him.  By Jesus’ sacrifice, we are permitted escape from an unhappy fate. 

God has a plan for each of us—Ephesians chapter two says we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  But that doesn’t mean that we have no real choices in life.  James writes, The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  God is flexible; there are many times when He has changed His mind in response to a believer’s prayer.  At Abraham’s pleading, the Lord was willing to spare Sodom from destruction if His angels found 10 righteous people living there.  In response to a prayer filled with tears, He gave King Hezekiah an extra 15 years of life.  After Jonah told the citizens of Nineveh that God was about to destroy them, the people repented and God spared the city.  When we ask God to show mercy, He is willing to change His plans for the sake of love. 

There is no such thing as luck—luck implies that no one is in charge of the universe.  There is no such thing as fate—fate suggests that the future is unchangeable.  So we are left to ponder this question: how much freedom of choice do you really have in life? 

There are some things that you have no choice about.  You don’t get to choose your parents.  You can’t alter your genetic structure.  You can’t change the economy or put an end to war.  You can’t escape aging or death. 

Of course, there are many points in life where you do get to make a choice—but even then, your options are limited.  When deciding what to wear, you are limited to the items in your closet.  If you choose to behave badly, you can end up in the Principal’s office or a jail cell; you can lose your job or your marriage.  

And yet although our choices are limited, there are still times when we feel overwhelmed.  There are several options open to us, and we don’t know which way to go.  We can be paralyzed with fear, unwilling to make a choice that might turn out badly and cannot be taken back.  Sometimes we hesitate too long and events make the decision for us.

You are right to be concerned about making a bad decision.  Left to our own judgment, we usually take the wrong path.  This is because we’re all sinners.  Our minds are clouded by fear, anger, and desire.  Our cravings scream so loudly for satisfaction that it is hard to think things through logically.  Our fears urge us to take quick and drastic action, regardless of the consequences.  When it comes to making decisions we only have limited options, yet even then we are prone to making bad choices.

This is why we need Jesus in our lives.  We need Him to put limits on the choices available to us so we don’t make a lot of catastrophic decisions.  We need Him to guide us in making good use of the decision points in our lives.  We need Him to forgive us when we do the wrong thing, hurting ourselves or hurting others in the process.  We need Him to fix the damage that we’ve caused which no words of apology can ever set right. 

God gives us freedom to make choices, but within certain limits.  He gives us brains to use and He gives us guidelines to follow.  Use your mind to honor God with your choices; you can be sure that if things go wrong, Jesus will forgive you and help to set things right.

Of all the decisions that we make in life, none are more important than those regarding Christ.  Will you go to church on Sunday or sleep in?  Will you take the kids to Sunday School or let them play video games instead?  Will you read the Bible or watch television?  Each of these decisions impacts your relationship with Jesus, either strengthening it or allowing it to weaken.

I said earlier that each of us has only a limited ability to make choices.  Nowhere is this more obvious than in matters of faith.  We don’t choose to believe in Jesus; we’re not capable of such a choice.  Paul writes, the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so (Romans 8:7).  Without God’s influence, Christianity seems ridiculous to the sinful mind—Paul says, The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him (1 Corinthians 2:14).  Until Jesus changes our hearts, we cannot choose to love Him.  He said, You did not choose me, but I chose you (John 15:16). 

But God does not force us to love Him.  We do have a choice in the matter—we can choose to reject His offer of companionship.  Of course, such rejection grieves our Lord terribly; listen to Jesus’ words in Matthew 23 as He looked in sorrow at Jerusalem and its people: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  And rejecting Jesus is the worst decision anyone can possibly make, because without Jesus our sins remain a part of us and death will lead to judgment and hell.  Jesus said, Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him (John 3:36).

We need God’s help to make good decisions.  Philippians chapter two says, it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.  Jesus said, I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5).  No matter how busy you are, make time for God’s Son in your schedule, studying His word and praying for His guidance.  Build each day around Jesus, that all of your decisions might be good ones.