Sunday, May 11, 2014

Decisions, decisions!




Decisions, decisions!
Some things that we do daily, we do like clockwork, it’s just automatic not even giving it a second thought.  However, when it comes to our Christian walk, we must decide, every day, to live a godly life that is holy and acceptable unto God. Problem is, sometimes we don’t think about it (put into thought or plan out carefully), and we just get up, do what we do, and make the best of our day.

When we wake up in the morning, we do not realize that everything we do is an active decision of ours. Even something as minor as what we put in our mouths…our decisions should be godly.

Even what we don’t do count as a decision, for instance, If we do not wake up thanking God for that day, we made an active decision NOT to thank Him. If we did not pray as soon as we woke up, we made an active decision NOT to pray. Prayer is the most important decision we make in the morning. We take God’s grace for granted when we do not make the decision to pray.

Side note: God gave us all the instructions we need to know how to live a godly life. There is nothing that was made that was not a consideration of God when He created man. If he made sure all the animals, fish, birds, and down to the littlest bugs were taken care of, don’t you think He would do the same for man? God knew that times were going to change and yet, being all knowing, being timeless, He gave us all the instructions we need to live.

During our daily lives, how we work is an active decision we make, whether we did it consciously or not. How we communicate with our co-workers and our supervisor is also an  active decision we make. How we deal with our family, friends and others outside of work are also active daily decisions that we make that should be godly decisions.

What is happening to a lot of the church (Christians) is that we are becoming mindless creatures. Like spiritual walking zombies. Here is spiritual food for thought, if the way we live our lives is a daily worship offering to God, then think about what we are offering Him every day.

Let us look at a great example of worship, offering, and decision.

God accepted Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s. Notice that God said to Cain, IF YOU DO WELL, WILL YOU NOT BE ACCEPTED? He did not say if you bring me the right offering. Of course we know that that is a part of it but Abel’s offering to God matched his love, respect and honor to God. The fact that he brought in a first born animal sacrifice from his flock shows that he understood the meaning of his gift that he was offering. His gift was specific and carefully planned out. He came to God as a humble servant, recognizing that he was in need of forgiveness whereas Cain came in with fruit from the ground. What was on Cain’s mind at the time? Maybe a rushed decision or, maybe he didn't give much thought at all into what he was giving God. Maybe he felt like he didn't have to do anything, to please God, because he believed that God was already pleased with him. Maybe he felt that he didn't need a sin offering because he felt that he was good already, in God’s eyes.

We may have an arrogant attitude that we may not be aware of and that could be the reason that some of us do not give it a second thought to thank the Lord every day for blessing us to see another day. Maybe we are so arrogant that we feel that we do not mess up daily and therefore have no need to pray every morning and to be conscious of our daily decisions. I know that I am guilty. I know that there have been days that, even though I know how I am supposed to act, but I do not consider praying to God for help because “I got this” “ I know what to do” “I have the instruction manual”. Taking for granted that something might happen today that will knock me down and I was not prepared because (I just assumed) I didn't need preparation.
Living a godly life is a daily decision. It must be “thought out” and “prayed out” every single day, not just when we think we might need it most (i.e. a court hearing). I hope that this will encourage all of us to rethink what we do every day or remind ourselves that we want to give God a daily offering like Abel and not have the mindset like Cain. We must make every decision a godly decision.

Active Being in physical motion. I will add mental, emotional and spiritual as well.
Godly: Having great reverence for God; pious.
Decision: a conclusion or resolution reached after consideration.
Worship: the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity.
Offering: something offered in worship or devotion, as to a deity; an oblation or sacrifice

God bless you.