Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
March 23, 2008 - W0812

We all come with different questions.   How in the world did I end up in church today?  Why do the good die young?  Why aren’t there any Portuguese candidates running for President?  Sometimes we don’t spend enough time on our choices. When you think of the multitude of choices we need to make (e.g., What job should I take?  What school so I go to?  What stocks or bonds should I invest in?  What should I make for dinner today?  What should I wear?), it can be overwhelming.

God gave us the gift of choice.  Whereas He created animals whose survival instincts control or dictate their every action, He only gave people -- those created in His image -- the power of choice.  And this is what He said about that gift:

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses,.  I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make.  Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live!” (Deut. 30:19)

God says that He will give us blessings and curses, life and death…but choose life! 

We all wish that sometimes our choices were easier.  Why do choices have to be so hard sometimes?  Well, God gives us choice but if we mix it with fear, greed, or anger -- if it is corrupted -- we add difficulty to the choice.  On the other hand, God grants us wisdom so we can make better choices if we follow His will and His word. 

Let’s step back and define “choice”.  Choice is when you have an option between two things of somewhat equal value.  The more equal the choices are, the bigger [harder] the choice. And the harder the choice, the more likely you’ll make a mistake or a decision you’ll later regret.

When what shouldn’t be a choice becomes one, we are prone to mistakes.  But if one of your options is of much greater value and there is a large discrepancy or difference between your options, the choice is easy.   For example, if you were given a choice of a MacDonald’s hamburger or a Burger King hamburger, you may have a difficult time choosing.  However, if you were given the choice of a MacDonald’s hamburger or steak dinner at Ruth Chris’s steakhouse, I bet the choice would be much easier.  When you take one option that would’ve been equal but make it much bigger/richer/better, the choice becomes easy.

So here’s the first thing to understand about how to make your life choices easier/simpler:

1.      INCREASE YOUR VIEW OF GOD.

You see, we have a tendency to bring God down to our level and that makes things/choices harder and more prone to mistakes. 

“To whom can the holy God be compared?  Is there anyone else like Him?  Look up at the sky!  Who created the stars you see?  He knows how many there are and calls each one by name!”  (Is. 40:25-26)

The earth rotates on its axis at a speed of 1,038 miles per hour.  The earth circles the sun at a speed of 67,000 miles per hour.  Yet despite all of that speed and spinning, there is the exact amount of gravitational pull between us and the earth that we are able to walk about and exist on this planet without ever feeling or being aware of all that happening.  Yet, scientists say that if the earth were rotating any slower, we would alternately freeze or burn to death (based on our exposure or lack of exposure to the sun).  How awesome is our God that He has created our world and universe with such perfection?

“[Jesus] is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.” (Heb. 1:3)

God told the planets, “You rotate exactly how I say!” and they do.  Recognizing the power of God and increasing our view of Him is the first step to making (or keeping) our life choices simple but we have a tendency to demote God and bring Him down to our level.

There is a story of two atheist scientists who challenge God and His creation.  They challenge Him and claim that they can make man themselves so they tell God, “Let’s have a competition.”  God agrees so the competition begins.  To start, one of the scientists picks up a handful of dirt to start his experiment or creation and God says, “Get your own dirt!”

2.      CHOICE BECOMES WISDOM WHEN YOU SEE HIS GREATNESS.

When we bring God down to our level, we compress (or suppress) wisdom; but if we understand God in all His greatness, His wisdom flows more easily to us.

“To be wise you must first have reverance for the Lord.” (Prov. 9:10 TEV)

Life versus death.  Blessings versus curses.

Do you remember the old game show Let’s Make a Deal (with Monty Hall)?  If not, let me briefly explain.  It was a game show where people in the audience would win prizes and at the end to show, two contestants would be given an opportunity to either keep what they had or trade for an opportunity for a much bigger prize behind one of three doors.  The catch is…behind two of the doors were dud prizes and behind the last door was the grand prize.  So “Let’s Make a Deal”!

Pick one of the three doors we have here on the stage:  Door #1, Door #2, or Door #3.  (For the sake of this writing and the fact that you can’t see the doors, let’s cut to the chase…)  For those of you who picked Door #3, you win a rubber chicken!  (Handsomely modeled by Pastor Rod in his stylish suit though.)  And for those of you who picked Door #2, you win a toilet seat!  (Clean and functional but not very valuable of course.)  Then, for those of you who picked Door #1 (and I noticed that more of you said that you picked Door #1 than when I originally asked for a show of hands….), you win…an all-expense paid cruise around the world with accommodations in the top of the line state-room on a deluxe cruise ship with gourmet dining and stops in Alaska, Greece, Hong Kong, Australia, etc.  And not only that, you’ve also won a new palace home in England with  $50 million in cash prize and this new fantasy Harley Davidson motorcycle (courtesy of Cycle City). 

Now that you know what’s behind Doors #1, #2, and #3, would you make a different choice?

3.      YOUR WISEST CHOICE IS TO OPEN THE DOOR TO ETERNAL LIFE.

If I gave you a second chance, would you choose differently?  Now, what if God gave you a second chance?

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” (Rev. 3:20)

“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” (1 John 5:12)

In Jeremiah 29:11, the Bible says, “‘For you know the plans I have for you,’ saith the Lord, ‘plans for your welfare and not your calamity, that you will have a hope and a future.’”

Do you see how God does that?  When it comes to God, it’s like there’s no choice at all.  What He offers us is so much more than we can do for ourselves and so much more than we deserve.  Yet He gives it to us freely if we will just trust and believe in Him.

You may be thinking, “I need Jesus.  I need a second chance.”  That’s what God and Easter is all about.  The Devil tries to push it all down to our level so the choice is hard and we make mistakes, but God is so different.  We will receive wisdom to make eternal choices if we acknowledge Him.

We are constantly facing choices in life and so many of them seem so difficult but they don’t have to be.  Choices are difficult when we perceive the options as being nearly equivalent but when we rightfully increase our view of God (and hold Him in the esteem that He deserves), our choices are clearer, easier, and less prone to mistake.  And when we understand His greatness, our choices demonstrate wisdom.  Yet, the wisest choice we will ever make is when we open the door to eternal life and accept God’s offer of a second chance -- eternal life with Him.

He is Risen!  He is Risen Indeed!

Happy Easter!  Go celebrate and share the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. 

DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS

1.      Share about one of really tough decisions/choice you’ve had to make?  Why was the choice so difficult?

2.      What part does God play in your decision-making/choices?

3.      Honestly speaking, what is your view of God and His participation in your daily life?  Is He with you all of the time, some of the time, or none of the time?  What can you do to increase your view of God?

4.      Share about a choice you made that was made with wisdom beyond your own, God’s wisdom.  What would your choice have been without God’s grace?  How did God influence your choice?

5.      Have you made the wisest decision you’ll ever make to accept God’s second chance offer  of eternal life?  If not, what is stopping you?  If yes, how will you be different based on what you have heard today?