February 23, 2025
Choices. Life is full of them. What time to go to bed. What time to get up. What to eat for breakfast when I get up. Do I even have time to eat breakfast when I get up because I chose to hit the snooze three times? Now that I’m up and semi-awake, what do I wear to work today, or if you are retired like me, do I keep my pajamas on or not? Unless, of course, I have a doctor’s appointment and then I must choose what to wear. If you are going to work, what route do you choose to take? Life is crammed full of choices. Fortunately, many of our choices don’t result in serious consequences. It doesn’t really matter if I wear a red polo shirt or a blue button up shirt, just as long as I don’t wear a white suit after Labor Day! However, sometimes we make a string of choices that, taken together as a whole, don’t turn out so well. For example, the guy didn’t mean to get a concussion. His day didn’t start that way, in fact, it all started with an innocent bottle of water. Actually, it started with the decision to drive to the lake and go fishing. The day was beautiful, and he was off from work, so it seemed like the perfect time to spend the day on the lake trying out his new rod and reel. He packed his lunch, got into his car, turned on the radio and settled down for a nice uneventful drive to the lake. Or so he thought. Then he got thirsty. He saw a sign in front of Ernie’s Egg Mart that advertised bottled water buy one get one free. He thought to himself that he would drink one bottle of water now and save the other to drink with the fried baloney sandwich and chips he had packed for lunch. (I know that I misspelled baloney, but bologna just doesn’t have the same zip to a southern boy as baloney) His purchase made, he opened one bottle of water and laid the other one on the seat next him, started his car and resumed his drive to the lake. He was singing “Take It Easy” along with the Eagles and had just blurted out “It’s a girl, my Lord, in a flat-bed Ford” when it ran right out in front of him, NOT stopping to take even a glance at him, much less a look. A deer that is, not a girl. It was a ten- point buck no less. He swerved to miss the deer and before he could slam on the brakes, the bottle of water beside him rolled off the seat and onto the floor, coming to a stop right between the brake pedal and the floor. The fact that he couldn’t slam on the brakes because of the bottled water caused him to take the curve too fast, which in turn caused him to run off the road into the ditch at a high rate of speed. When the car hit the ditch, it came to a hard, sudden stop, causing him to bash his head on the steering wheel, giving him the concussion. What does all of this have to do with spiritual matters? I’m glad you asked. Many choices we make carry a consequence. One choice leads to another, causing a chain reaction of events. Most Christians don’t wake up thinking, “I believe I will live my life in sin today, in full rebellion against God.” We wake up and our mind starts working. Those thoughts turn into choices and before you know it, those choices put us into compromising situations where we make another wrong choice and end up in the ditch with a concussion. We didn’t drive straight into the ditch, but because of several decisions and events, that’s where we end up. This is why Paul reminds us to “Take every thought into captivity.” It is those thoughts that lead to choices both good and bad, resulting in consequences. Let’s all work to be in control of our thoughts, and not let our thoughts control us. Now, if you don’t mind, I have been thinking about that fried baloney sandwich and it’s time to turn THAT thought into action.
Be Blessed and be a blessing . . . Bro. Andy
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