You Have the the Power of Choice - What Will You Do Today?

This is not a post about how you “get” to do things. Rather, this post is about a very subtle shift that the Holy Spirit has been revealing to me about CHOICE. I did not realize that the below statements, or ones similar, had infiltrated my thinking and began to affect my joy.Does any of this sound familiar? I have to:

• “Go to work tomorrow”
• “Save more money”
• “Watch my daughter”
• “Go to church tomorrow”

What if you saw those above statements as choices, rather than “have to,” forced statements? They would read like this. I am choosing:

• “To go to work tomorrow, so I can earn my paycheck to provide for my family”
• “Not to buy that now, because I would like to save money for the future”
• “To stay home with my daughter today, because I would rather not spend the money on a babysitter”
• “To go to church today, because I would like to spend time with Jesus”

You see, when you live with the mentality that you “HAVE” to do things, you allow yourself to become a victim of your circumstances. You’re trapped. But the truth is that we ALWAYS have a CHOICE. The enemy tries to come in and paint this picture of God as a terrible person who forces our hand in situations. But that’s just not the case.From the beginning, He gave Adam and Eve the free will to choose. In the Garden, God gave them the choice between life and death. This is the same choice that we are faced with every day. He laid out the choice between His way and our own way, and the consequences of each. The consequence of CHOOSING God’s will is life, while the consequence of choosing our own will above His is death.

Related Posts: Outlook Determines Outcome

That’s what we really struggle with – the consequences. Sometimes we don’t like the consequences of our choices (i.e. staying out late and being tired at work), but the consequences cannot change. If you don’t like where you are, make a different choice. God, in all His sovereignty, left that power in our hands.

The Power of Choice

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the LORD, you will live long in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” - Deuteronomy 30:19-20

As you go about your day today, I challenge you to look at your “to-do” list a little differently than usual. Your to-do list is not a list of “have to’s,” but a list of things you are choosing to do today.