Making Choices In Life
Have you ever made a choice in life that you wish you hadn’t made? I’m sure all of us could answer yes to this question. Choices are a part of everyday life. We choose to get up at a certain time. We choose what we will do with the time we have in that day. We choose what we will wear, what we will eat, where we will go, and on and on the list goes.
I well remember a choice I made when I was newly married and first teaching school. I went into a well-known clothing store to look at the clothes. I saw a beautiful black pantsuit with a red and black vest and a crisp white blouse. Did I mention that this outfit was expensive (at least more than I should spend on one outfit). But then I made another choice…I tried it on. Guess what? It fit like a glove, and I loved how it looked on me. Suddenly I was left with the choice of whether or not to spend that amount of money on one outfit. My mind told me that I could wear the slacks with other tops, and the jacket with a skirt I had. I could even wear the vest with other pieces I had in my closet. My mind also told me that I deserved that outfit because I worked hard every day and earned my own money. You guessed it – I bought that pantsuit, knowing I was spending more that Jim and I could afford for clothing.
I tell you that story because it came to my mind last Sunday night when some major choices were made. Let me hasten to say that I am not trying to be judgmental with this post, but merely to cause all of us to think about the choices we are making in life.
We began last Sunday having not only our Sunday morning worship, but also to come together to worship God in the evening. I was overjoyed with this decision our elders made. We all worshipped together in the auditorium (with masks and social distance), but there were no problems doing so because everyone knows that the crowd for Sunday evening services is smaller (that’s a post for another time). We still offered our services on Facebook and YouTube.
That’s where my thoughts turned to choices we make in life. You see, there was a big football game on last Sunday evening at the same time we were meeting to worship God. It was the Super Bowl, and after all, it only happens once a year, and this year of all years made it so special because a lot of people have been unable to go to the games, and…
Here were just some of my thoughts:
- Did some choose to stay at home to watch this one-time-a-year super football game?
- Did they choose to watch the game because they could go online later and worship?
- Do some fit the online services around their schedule rather than fit their schedule around the times of our services?
- In the past, have some congregations of the Lord’s church moved the time of their evening services to accommodate those who wanted to watch the big game?
- Are we putting God in first place in our lives when we choose an earthly event first, and move worship to another time slot?
- Is Super Bowl Sunday the only time we have put God in another time slot just to please ourselves?
Choices in life are sometimes really hard to make, but I remember Jesus saying, “…seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness… (Matt 6:33).
Oh, about that pantsuit I bought. The first time I wore it to school, I leaned against a radiator used to heat the hallways, and it melted stripes on the back of the jacket that could not be repaired. I learned a valuable lesson about choices.
It is my prayer that all of us think through our choices in this life, big ones and small ones, with eternity in mind.
“…choose this day whom you will serve…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
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AUTHOR: Donna Faughn
