Is our life scripted before birth by God, or do we have a say in how our life is shaped? The answer to both is Yes.
Proverbs 16:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
20 Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.
Christians who truly know Christ trust Him with life after our mission on this earth is over. But most of us do not trust Him to help shape our everyday life. If we are in need of help with daily problems, we do not put the problems in God’s lap but try to solve them ourselves. As the song goes: “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not take it to the Lord in prayer.” So we make choices on our own that may not be the best. I know I made some bad decisions by my own choice. Mostly though God guided my life without my knowledge. We should make daily choices as prayerfully and carefully as we anticipate eternity, and trust Him for both.
I know who holds the future, And I know who holds my hand;
With God things don’t just happen – Everything by Him is planned.
Even so, we can make choices. Few people realize how important are the choices we make every day. Some of course are incidental and have no lasting effect on our lives. There are many though that have a profound effect on our future. The obvious ones are choosing to go to college or not, getting married, drugs and alcohol.
The worst choice we could possibly make is to live without God. If we do not choose God, He will not be a part of our lives. He will never force Himself on us. The most important choice is to accept Christ as our Lord and Savior.
The friends we choose shape our lives. Bob Wheeler was chosen as a boyhood friend and he told me about the Navy college training program as an alternative to being drafted. My decision, a choice, to volunteer for this program had a profound effect on my life. It led me to meet the wonderful person I married, Anita. It also allowed a full education at little cost. I now believe that God directed Bob to tell me this. While Bob’s friendship led to this important decision, other friends also had major influence. This was especially true in my career. I believe God guided me to men who helped in my career. Also I was guided to investments and investment advisors that proved lucrative. He also guided Anita and I to choose our present church and how to use our money for His work.
In today’s society, young people are exposed to much evil in ways they do not recognize. Perhaps a friend wants them to try drugs just to be part of the gang. Peer pressure negates most of the influence that parents might have. Once the bad choice has been made, their lives are forever altered in a small or big way.
The media also affects the minds of everyone, especially the young who have not developed their own code of conduct. There is so much trash to watch, entertaining but mind altering. And many celebrities are of no help, or influence the wrong way. It is easy for us to become enamored with a personality, sports or media. Then we fasten to their every word. Betty White a lady of 88 who is revered by millions was quoted recently that she thinks everyone has the right to say “I do” including gay couples. ‘If Betty White said this, it must be right.’ There are many celebrities influencing people in far worse ways. And their messages are not often blatant, but subtle with ungodly implications.
Our country was founded on godly principles by godly men. Today we have let minorities remove all traces of God from of our schools and from government. Thus it is harder for anyone to relate to God. This puts roadblocks in the way of young people in choosing godly ways. Students have even been censored for mentioning anything about God in their essays, and for trying to pray in school.
Many of the new TV programs feature violence and sex as their attractants. It is far easier to choose such a program than to find one that has a semblance of morality. I can remember when the most watched programs had clean humor, adventures of real people, and loving marriage relationships. Archie Bunker of course was an overbearing husband, but he was still humorous. Just try to find anything like these clean and entertaining programs on the airwaves.
The New Age religions teach how to get the most joy out of life or to prosper. They teach nothing about Jesus. Other fringe religions including CS have little to say about our Lord. Even many of the protestant churches put no emphasis on Jesus as our Savior and the only way to salvation.
Christians know what must be done to find salvation and to live a truly clean life. We must choose to tell others about our precious Lord and what He has done for us. We can relate how this has changed our life for the better. If we choose not to do this when the opportunity exists, that person could spend eternity away from the presence of God, a terrible fate. How will they ever know Christ if someone does not tell them? So the choices we make even today will have a profound effect on others and ourselves.