June 14, 2017
THE POLK COUNTY PULSE
29
CHOICES...ALWAYS CHOICES!
Think about it for just a minute. You are visiting with an inmate in prison who is about to take that last journey: death! Execution by the state. You ask “why did you choose this?” His (or her) replay would be something like this: “I did not choose this! I would never have chosen this!” But here he (or she) is. Perhaps thirty or thirty-five years old, and leaving life in the manner. By choice? Now think about the drug addict whose life has gone completely crazy because of an insatiable need for “one more hit.” Life wasted. All of that potential gone. You ask “why did you choose this over what could have been a really good life?” The answer: “I didn’t choose this!” No, we suppose that he (or she) did not knowingly choose this. But here it is. In stark reality, here it is. How can it happen to otherwise intelligent people, who would never, never, have chosen this for the end of life? The truth is that even though one may not choose the kind of conclusion that I have written about, we always… always… choose the road that leads to that destination! “But my friend gave that to me and in order to be ‘cool’ I had to take it.” No! We may not choose the end, but we choose the road that leads there, And we do choose! We cannot choose all that happens to us in this life, but we can choose how we respond to it, and it is that response that can build or destroy us. Choice… always choices! All of this leads us to the real problem: can we always know? Are there guidelines to follow that will keep us headed in the right direction? Are guidelines dependable? Blueprints. That sheaf of papers with all the drawings and numbers, the drawings and numbers that, when faithfully followed, create something good, something with purpose and strength. The storm comes and the wind blows and rain bears down with violent force, but the building stands and protects all within, because the design was good and the blueprints were followed. Jesus told us something like that, about a house built on sand (check it out, Matthew 7:24-27). Choices. Always choices. Choices are real, choices have consequences. Throw the blueprint away and see what happens to the house. See what happened when the storm comes. And storms do come, to all of us… all of us. Blueprints. We all have One. But lip-service won’t do. It is so hard to see in the beginning but it is still true: we choose destinations by choosing the roads that we travel. “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, by he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” (Gal 6:8). Old fashioned? Yes. Relevant? More so than any other document, ever. Ignoring Truth does not make it go away nor does it change it. Ignoring Truth is the most dangerous “game” one can play! Always choices. And there is One choice that we must not be wrong about! Some roads that are in fact terribly dangerous often look very inviting. “There is a way that seemeth right to a man but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Prov. 14:12; 16:25). No one ever chose to be a drug addict, or an alcoholic or a death-row inmate, but there are many of them. Why? Because they chose the road that took them there. But there is a Better Way: Jesus said “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by Me.” (John 14:6). This is the Choice that leads to life! Choices. Always choices. My name is Gene Stacks and I approve this message. THIS PAGE PURCHASED BY GENE STACKS