Cincinnati Church of Christ: Good News You Can Use!
EVERYDAY CHOICES
Quiet Time Notes by Sarah Wiegman
June 24, 2004
I make choices everyday; I choose to hit the snooze button, iron my clothes and if I am going to leave my house on time for work. I choose my clothes, my hair style, the perfume I am going to wear and what I will eat all before 7:30 am. I choose the route I am taking to work based on the traffic reports. I choose what entrance of the building to go in and whether or not I use the stairs or the elevator. I choose how hard I am going to work every day and I choose who I want to eat lunch with. I choose to be happy or frustrated at work and I choose to be an asset to the company or a liability. I make choices every day, all day and I’ve gotten quite good at it. :-)
So why is it that I have such a difficult time making choices regarding spiritual issues? Do I encourage someone by calling them or do I choose to ignore the phone? Do I choose to have a quiet time and to apply it to my life? Do I choose to go to church on time and to be giving? Do I choose to put others above my own needs? Do I choose to be honest about my feelings and insecurities? Do I choose God’s will or do I choose my own? Do I choose to trust in God? Do I choose to have faith? Do I choose to reach out and make new relationships?
So in true fashion, I made a choice. For my quiet time I did a study on relationships and choices. I didn’t do the ‘normal’ study of relationships, but rather I looked at how one choice from each person could have dramatically changed their lives. What if Naomi had told Ruth to ‘hit the road’? Would Ruth have hooked up with Boaz? Would that have changed the outcome of David’s story? (Considering that Boaz was David’s great-grandpa). Who knows really what would have happened, it’s certainly all speculation, but it made a fun and convicting quiet time.
CHOICES
A. ADAM AND EVE 1. Genesis 3: 1-7 THOUGHTS I always thought that Eve talked to the Serpent, ran to tell Adam and then gave him the fruit. Actually Adam was sitting there the whole time while the serpent gave his speech. (vs. 6) How different would it have been if Adam had CHOSEN to chop off the head of the serpent as it was speaking? What if Adam had CHOSEN to rebuke his wife for attempting to get him to do something she knew was forbidden? What if Adam had CHOSEN to say no? That one choice to not flee from temptation changed not only their destiny, but their relationship with each other. They went from a pure innocence to being ashamed of being naked in front of each other, and to a cursed existence.
B. CAIN AND ABEL 1. Genesis 4:4-6 THOUGHTS What can you say; one is dead and one is alive but COME ON!! Think of the family reunions. What if Cain had CHOSEN to humble out and listen to God’s gentle rebuke? What if Cain had CHOSEN to take personal responsibility for his lack of forethought in bringing an appropriate gift to God? What if Cain had CHOSEN to simply not kill his brother? That one choice of choosing wrong over right not only affected his existence but it affected his whole family; case in point, his dead brother. Who knows what kind of plans God could have had for Abel? We’ll never know.
C. DAVID AND JONATHON 1. I Samuel 18:3 and I Samuel 20 You totally can’t do a study on relationships and not include David and Jonathon! THOUGHTS They swore an oath of love. Jonathon gave up his right to his Kingdom for David. Jonathon chose David over his father. David trusted Jonathon with his life. What if David had CHOSEN to not confide in Jonathon based on his relationship with Saul? What if Jonathon had CHOSEN to be greedy rather than righteous by not warning David of the danger? The choices that Jonathon and David had to make in their relationship with each other were life changing for generations.
D. PRISCILLA AND AQUILA 1. I Cor. 16:19 THOUGHTS They were always mentioned together and in context of being warm and hospitable. They even held church service in their home. What if one of them had CHOSEN to be selfish and rude and surly to people? How would that have changed their effectiveness? Now that I think about it, I’m sure one of them probably did choose that occasionally but I bet that when it happened the other one CHOSE to gently encourage and inspire the other to make the necessary changes. What if they had CHOSEN to not even be open to the Word when it was presented? (Acts 18:26). What a great example of Iron sharpening Iron. This couples choices affected their marriage, their ministry and ultimately the growth of the church.
E. ANANIAS and SAPPHIRA 1. Acts 5:1-5 THOUGHTS Talk about the antithesis of Priscilla and Aquila; this couple was all about the money! The banner on the back of their wedding carriage screamed “SHOW ME THE MONEY”, too bad they didn’t know that their casket would be screaming “HELL OR BUST”. What if just one of them had CHOSEN to stand up to the other? What if one of them had CHOSEN to get indignant and repentant about their greed and confessed? Sometimes I think that my actions don’t really affect anyone else. But the whole church was affected by the results of these choices. I mean, really imagine people just falling down dead because of a lie. Geesh!!
F. PETER AND JESUS 1. Matt: 16: 22-24 My favorite relationship is Jesus and Peter and the one I least understand. :-) Scripture after scripture can be referenced about their relationship but my favorite is Matt. 16. THOUGHTS Peter is treating Jesus like a friend and trying to encourage him by saying, “Come on dude lighten up, you’re not going to die, and you’ll be fine.” So he gently rebukes Jesus’ apparent negativity about the whole situation. Jesus turns around and busts out by calling him Satan and telling him to jump back!! He doesn’t stop there but goes on to say how Peter is shallow and shortsighted. Woo-hoo, right about this time, is when I would have said a few choice words and been like, “FINE, DIE THEN”. I mean really put yourself in Peter’s place and think about how you’ve just tried to be encouraging and how you’re obviously in pain thinking about your best friend dying cruelly and how that best friend just ‘turned on you’ like a rabid dog. Peter has a couple of choices: What if Peter had CHOSEN to stiffen with pride and what if he had CHOSEN to hide behind a mask of indifference and hurt. What if he had CHOSEN to just completely shut Jesus down because he had hurt feelings? Did he CHOOSE to humble out and hear what Jesus was saying? Apparently so. Here is the kicker for me; Peter had to not make that choice just once, but again and again, and again. He was one prideful soul. But what would have been different had Peter not held the keys to the kingdom? What would have changed had Peter not participated in Pentecost??
These were just a few of the examples I pulled out that talked about choices and relationships and roles in relationships. These are my daily choices: MY CHOICE to be complacent and to toy with sin (Adam and Eve) MY CHOICE to choose pride and blame shifting over humility and personal responsibility (Cain and Abel) MY CHOICE to choose Loyalty and Truth (David, Jonathon, Ananias and Sapphira) MY CHOICE to Sacrifice and be giving (Priscilla and Aquila) MY CHOICE to humble out and see the big picture, even when it hurts. (Peter and Jesus)
Do I choose?
DO I CHOOSE TO ACCEPT THAT GOD LOVES ME NO MATTER WHAT?
WHAT WILL I CHOOSE? |