Choices in Life Job 34: 4 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

Elihu said, “Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among ourselves what is good.”  We constantly make choices in life – today we’re going to talk about some simple ways to make choices in life so that the process is not so daunting or complicated.

Choose Biblically – 2 Pet 1:19-21 – the Bible is a book that you need to read daily – as you read it more and more, the light in it gets brighter and brighter [Prov 4:18-19] – it’s not a book you turn to just when you think you need some direction – it’s a book that you read for direction every single day – and following the Bible’s light simplifies your choices.

Choose Prayerfully – 2 Sam 5:19-25 – you need to inquire of the Lord over every decision you make – you can’t assume that because the Lord directed you a certain way one time he is going to direct you the same way the second time – we always need to prayerfully consider the Lord’s direction – he will be sure to direct you when he is ready for you to know his will – Prov 16:20 says, “whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he.”  Waiting on the Lord simplifies your choices.

Choose Obediently – Prov 6:20-23 – make your choices in accordance with the authorities in your life – do what your parents say – do what your boss says – do what your coach tells you to do – it’s that simple – in a high school in Texas many years ago, there was a star athlete on the football team – on a strength training day, the coach told the team to wear their team issued socks to the workout – the star showed up with footie socks on – the coach reminded him of the order – the young man replied, “My daddy told me I didn’t need to wear those socks” – the coach said, “Fine, then go play on your daddy’s team” and he kicked him off the team – the coach said that they had the best workout that day that they had ever had – the kid made a choice that was very simple and the consequences that followed that choice were very simple – he might have thought that the coach made the choice for him but he didn’t – in short order, the kid humbled himself, apologized and came back willing to follow all the orders – after some discipline the coach let him back on the team – he went on to a very successful career in the NFL – he simplified his life when he started obeying his coach.

Choose Consistently – Prov 4:25-27 – when you make one decision, make subsequent decisions that are in line with your prior choices – Randy decided to lose weight, therefore, daily he is faced with choices of what to eat – he simplified the process – since caloric intake must be less than caloric output to lose weight, he just sets a daily limit on caloric intake and then he chooses what to eat within that limit – he gets balanced nutrition from fat, protein and carbohydrates – that’s simple to understand and simple to follow – he can live like that the rest of his life – if something he wants to eat puts him outside the limit he simply chooses not to eat it – you say, but what if he chooses to eat it because he wants it so badly – then at that point he has chosen not to lose weight – it’s that simple.

Choose Wisely – Josh 24:15 – Joshua said, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve” – he made the wise choice to serve the Lord – when you make the choice to serve the Lord then you must also make wise decisions about that choice in order to keep serving the Lord – let’s say that in deciding to serve the Lord you give your tithe, give to missions and start saving money to buy a car 4 years from now – in the process of following these wise choices you discover that if you drink a Starbucks coffee each day you don’t have enough money monthly to tithe, give to missions and save for the car – you realize that you can live without Starbucks, but that missionary can’t make it without your offering and so you choose to skip the Starbucks – wise choice and a simple choice, too.

Choose Eternally – Deut 30:19 – when presented with eternal life and eternal death choose eternal life – you may think that you don’t like Christians – well get saved and you will find that we aren’t such a bad family after all – and certainly an eternity with Jesus Christ and us in heaven is a far cry better than an eternity in hell with the devil and his angels [Matt 25:41].  What could be simpler than trusting the finished work of Jesus Christ on Calvary?

Conclusion: Make your choices in life in accordance with these simple instructions and you will find that you will know what is good, like Elihu said.  And if you haven’t yet chosen to trust the finished work of Jesus Christ on Calvary then now would be a perfect time to make that choice.