The Power To Choose
“In every single thing you do, you are choosing a direction. Your life is a product of choices.” – Dr. Kathleen Hall
Have you ever thought about how many choices we make on a daily basis? Way too many to count. Some are big, some are little, some are good and some are bad. They all have an effect on our lives in either a positive or a negative way.
Thanks for reading Joe Lange’s Opinion ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
What would you say is a blessed life?
Blessed
adjective
Divinely or supremely favored; fortunate:
Blissfully happy or contented.
Bringing happiness and thankfulness.
Are you feeling favored, fortunate, happy and content?
Are you living your best life?
Do you want to live a Blessed life?
It starts with an attitude but ultimately is about the choices we make.
As a Christian I long ago stopped using the term lucky. I don’t remember exactly when I did, but the longer I walked in my faith I started referring more and more to being Blessed instead. Not that there’s anything wrong with using the term lucky, I just had become more aware of how active a role God has played in my life and was very thankful for it. It was a way for me to acknowledge Him over my life and appreciate everything He’s done for me.
What made me think of this topic were the holidays. I have been very spoiled by my customers. They have been very generous and have written some of the nicest things in the cards they gave me. They are too kind. I am truly Blessed.
Something I learned a long time ago, is this: If you want a Blessed life then be a Blessing to others. It’s more about the person you are than the things you do, because the things you do will flow from your heart.
But I would like to share something with you that God confronted me with. The reason I think this is timely, is because it’s a brand New Year. We often think of it as a new start, and many people like to make New Years resolutions in order to make a positive change in their life. I want to help people make a real change in their life, especially if they are struggling.
Have you read the story in the Bible about Jacob?
Jacob is one of my favorite people in the Bible because I can identify with him in so many ways. His life is recorded from beginning to end, weaving an incredible story of ups and downs. Just like all of our lives.
He had an interesting birth.
“Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them.”
Genesis 25:21-26 NIV
From the beginning it was a struggle between him and his brother over who would be first, which would lead to what Jacob is known for, which is deceiving his father and stealing his brother’s Blessing. As bad as it was for him to deceive his father, his brother didn’t really value the Blessing, because he had sold his birthright as firstborn to Jacob for just a meal.
“Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom. ) Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.”
Genesis 25:29-34 NIV
So you see, Jacob didn’t really steal the Blessing; he had purchased it from Esau for just a meal.
Jacob valued the Blessing much more than Esau.
In this story there are two main characters, twin brothers, and they both were making choices in a given moment of time that had huge impact on the direction of their lives.
We go through similar things, in that we may make choices that we don’t see the full benefit or consequences of until much later down the road. Those choices can help guide the direction of our lives for years to come.
Free Will
When God created mankind, He gave us free will so we had the power to make our own choices.
God gives us the right to choose. He does it because He loves us. He wants us to choose to love Him the way He loves us.
This freedom to make choices does not mean that we can do whatever we want to without suffering the consequences, because we are still responsible for those decisions.
They can either be a benefit or a consequence, depending on the choice.
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”
Galatians 6:7-8 NIV
Free will may not be free. Depending on the choices we make, our free will may come with a heavy cost.
Looking back on my own life, I’ve made some horrible choices at times and had to suffer the consequences of those decisions. I have some big regrets for how I’ve treated some people. They didn’t deserve it and I ultimately suffered the consequences of my choices. I was not living a Blessed life in my twenties and don’t have many close relationships from that time period to prove it. I call it my lost decade. I was living a cursed life of my own making and reaping what I was sowing.
Sometimes you have to reach the bottom to finally look upwards.
I said earlier that God had confronted me with something that I wanted to share. It wasn’t a reminder, it was more of a warning.
God loves me and I know it. He saw me wandering off the path and needed to point me back in the right direction. To redirect my steps.
“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
Proverbs 16:9 NIV
God knows our hearts. He knew mine and knew that the path I was going down could lead to disaster. He rescued me again. When I was confronted I was given a choice. To keep walking my own path and face the consequences or to get back on the path following Him. It was a real wake up call.
I was given a choice. To live a life that is Blessed or to live a life that is cursed.
God wants the best for us my friends. He wants us to live our best life, but He leaves the choice to us. He is constantly pursuing us and willing to help. Don’t ever forget this promise.
“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
1 Corinthians 10:12-13 NIV
God gives us free will to choose our path, but He gives us a warning while at the same time offering an invitation; a way out.
We need to choose wisely.
These are the verses God confronted me with. I’m a Jacob personality, I value God’s Blessing but there are times where sometimes I have to wrestle with God to be humbled in order to see that I’ve lost my way.
I’m very thankful for His favor in that regard; that He won’t abandon me, because He is faithful even when I am not.
The Choice
The Offer of Life or Death
“Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
Deuteronomy 30:11-20 NIV
As Christians each and every day God sets before us this choice.
“See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.”
We get to choose which path and which direction. A life that will be Blessed by God or a life that is Cursed by consequences.
God loves us, so He starts with the free invitation. The opportunity of a lifetime.
Do you want to live your best life?
The Blessing
God gives us a command that comes with a promise. The command is this:
“For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws.”
Here is the promise:
“then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.”
A promise is only as good as the one who makes it. God keeps His promises.
“God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?”
Numbers 23:19 NIV
Do you value the Blessing and the promise as much as Jacob?
What’s interesting is the following verses in this same chapter in the book of Numbers.
“I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it.”
Numbers 23:20 NIV
When you’re life is being Blessed by God, you can’t help but be a Blessing to others. You just can’t help it.
Then right after this verse it mentions our friend Jacob.
““No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The Lord their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them. God brought them out of Egypt; they have the strength of a wild ox. There is no divination against Jacob, no evil omens against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, ‘See what God has done!’”
Numbers 23:21-23 NIV
“See what God has done!”
A Blessed life always gives glory to God, because those that know they have been Blessed, will give God the credit and encourage others to seek Him!
We’ve covered the invitation and the promise of a Blessed life. Now let’s talk about the warning and the Curse. It always begins with our heart.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:21 NIV
The Curse
“But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.”
Deuteronomy 30:17-18 NIV
That’s the choice. If we choose to let our heart turn away from the God who loves us, then we have placed something or someone in His place, which God will not Bless, but instead, will allow the consequences. A life that is cursed.
Like Jacob, I’ve lived parts of my life Blessed and parts of it under the curse. Life is hard and can be a real struggle depending on your circumstances. Some things are beyond your control because everyone else has free will to make their own decisions. But I’m focusing on the things that are in our control which are the choices we make, then trusting and living by FAITH that God can handle the rest and will keep His promise to Bless your obedience.
That’s the real choice.
Do you want to live your best life?
Do you want the coming New Year to be Blessed?
God doesn’t promise you that this next year won’t have struggles. Jacob’s whole life had struggles and ours will too.
But God promises He will Bless your life in those struggles in ways that only He can because He knows your needs and your heart.
I pray that we will all look back at the end of 2023 and give thanks to God for a Blessed life and for being a Blessing to those in our lives with a thankful heart.
The choice is yours.
Be encouraged!
Wishing all of you a truly Blessed New Year!
Thanks for reading Joe Lange’s Opinion ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.