The plot thickens.
The character must decide between any number of choices. What will he do? If you choose for him to (a) follow God’s
will completely for his life, turn to page 67.
If you want him to (b) follow God’s will from his 30s on but make his
own decisions in his 20s, turn to page 43.
If you (c) choose for him to wait till the end of his life to follow
God’s plan for him, turn to page 88. If
you choose for him to (d) neglect God’s plan for his life altogether, turn to
page 101.
I never got into Choose Your Own Adventure books. Personally, I liked stories that had already
been written for me to enjoy with me as a reader taking less of an active part
in making choices for the hero or heroine.
And yet, I wonder . . . how often do we as believers live our lives as if we are in the midst of a Choose Your Own
Adventure book?
While some things in
life certainly are left to personal choice, much specific direction for life is
found in God’s Word. Christianity isn’t
a “choose your own adventure” world.
Rather, it’s a “find God’s will in His Word and follow it” world. God has given us the Holy Spirit, who uses the Word
to guide us into all truth, so that we can discern His perfect will for our
lives.
God's will never leads us to a place of less surrender. His will never leads us to a place of less
love for Him or less worship of Him.
If we are indulging in sins of the flesh today that have taken us from His path of life--where His presence remains (Ps. 16:11), where full joy exists--we should examine our choices. His Spirit is one of truth that leads us into
“all truth.” Are there portions of the
Bible that we pick and choose, deciding whether or not to obey them? If so, we will reap many negative
consequences—but they will come in a different season than the season in which
we sow.
Today we are faced with many choices. Will we spend our time seeking God in His
Word and interceding for others in prayer?
Will we choose to love people to Him by giving them the Gospel and
seeking to open our mouths with Spirit-led boldness? Or will we stagnate in our Christian
walk? Will we live our moments and
minutes in God-dependent faith, letting the Spirit produce His fruit in our
lives, or will we cope by running to our own way—busyness, entertainment, self-indulgence? Are our minutes
consumed with His way or our own?
Today’s choices are tomorrow’s realities. What we think about today we will begin doing
tomorrow, for how we think shows who we are and will eventually display itself
in the actions we choose.
Let us, then,
examine our thoughts. Are we thinking
only about “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever
things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report”?
If not, we can expect negativity to emerge
from our lips. Unkindness to emanate
from our spirits. And disregard for
God’s ways to color our world. Further,
we can expect our own adventures to be riddled with inner turmoil and
unbelief.
In Numbers 13, only two men reported what God saw
when He viewed the Promised Land. How do
we report our reality to the people about us?
If we are people of praise, thanking God morning, noon, and night,
worshiping Him in our spirits--then faith-filled and God-honoring reports will
emerge from our lips. If we are people
of complaints, bitterness, and unresolved anger, we will report our world
through a negative lens as being the result of someone else’s poor choices.
If you’ve chosen your own
adventure instead of God’s, I plead with you to return to His pathway
today. Let God color your world, shape
your perspective, and give you the eyes to see His plan as perfect and good for
you.
Return to our Lord, Who says, “For
I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace,
and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jer. 29:11).
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