There are times when God sends thunder to stir us. There are times when God sends His blessings to lure us. But then there are times when God sends nothing but silence as He honors us with the freedom to choose where we spend eternity. And what an honor it is! In so many areas of life we have no choice. Think about it. You didn’t choose your gender. You didn’t choose your siblings. You didn’t choose your race or the place of your birth. Sometimes our lack of choices angers us. “It’s not fair,” we say. It’s not fair that I was born in poverty or that I sing so poorly or that I run so slowly. But the scales of life were forever tipped on the side of fairness when God planted a tree in the Garden of Eden. All complaints were silenced when Adam and his decedents were given free will, the freedom to make whatever eternal choice we desire. Any injustice in this life is offset by the honor of choosing our destiny in the next. Wouldn’t you agree? Would you have it otherwise? Would you have preferred the opposite? You chose everything in this life, and He chooses where you spend the next? You choose the size of your nose, the color of your hair, and your DNA structure, and He chooses where you spend eternity? Is that what you would prefer? It would have been nice if God had let us order life like we order a meal: I’ll take good health and a high IQ. I’ll pass on the music skills, but give me a fast metabolism …. Would’ve been nice. But it didn’t happen. When it came to your life on earth, you weren’t given a voice or a vote. But when it comes to life after death, you were. In my book that seems like a good deal. Wouldn’t you agree? Have we been given any greater privilege than that of choice? Not only does this privilege offset any injustice, the gift of free will can offset any mistakes. You’ve made some bad choices in life, haven’t you? You’ve chosen the wrong friends, maybe the wrong career, even the wrong actions and relationships. You look back over your life and say, “If only …. if only I could make up those bad choices.” You can. One good choice for eternity offsets a thousand bad ones on earth. God allows you the choice. The choice is yours. He Will Let You Choose. Thoughts from reading “I Will Let You Choose” by Max Lucado.
Out of love for one another…….
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35 ESV)
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Scripture of the Week
“Praise be to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion, Who comforts us in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.” ~~ 2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Something to Smile About
A dog ran into a butcher shop and grabbed a roast off the counter. Fortunately, the butcher recognized the dog as belonging to a neighbor of his. The neighbor happened to be a lawyer. Incensed at the theft, the butcher called up his lawyer neighbor and said, “Hey, if your dog stole a roast from my butcher shop, would you be liable for the cost of the meat?” The lawyer replied, “Of course, how much was the roast?” “$7.98.” said the butcher. A few days later the butcher received a check in the mail for $7.98. Attached to it was an invoice that read: Legal Consultation Service: $150.
A linguistics professor was lecturing to his class one day. “In English,” he said, “A double negative forms a positive. In some languages, though, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative. However, there is no language wherein a double positive can form a negative.” A voice from the back of the room piped up, “Yeah, right.”
Think About It
Think About It
You Can’t Push a Chain
A chain is a handy device. You use it to pull a car
out of the ditch. You can hoist a heavy item. You
can use one to anchor a boat or secure a gate.
But can’t push with a chain. It will pull or hold,
but try to push and it’s pretty much useless.
People are a lot like a chain. When linked
together they can be powerful, if you pull them and
don’t try to push. You start pushing them and the
links go every which way.
Too many times we try to lead folks by just
pushing them. We’re in the back trying to get things
moving and it rarely works well. All that shouting
and cajoling and needling might move things an
inch or two, but the bang for the buck is
underwhelming.
If we stand at the front and start pulling,
however, things change. Things snap into place.
The effort is multiplied. The strength of the whole is
unified.
In any role — parent, teacher, mentor, boss
— that we want to help lead others, we would be a
lot better off if we try pulling instead of pushing.
– Barry Haynes, Hope church of Christ, Hope, AR