Life Is About Making Right Choices

Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
January 27, 2002 PM

Life Is About Making Right Choices

Reading - Genesis 13.1-20

Our sermon series this month has been on pursuing spiritual excellence by initiating fresh starts and new beginnings. We have seen how life is based upon the attitudes we have and hold. We have noted that our spiritual success is based upon making right choices. We close our New Year series tonight with a lesson on HOW to make good choices.

You see... We make hundreds of choices each day.
- We choose what we are going to wear... What we are going to eat...
- We choose how we will spend our time and energy....
- What we will say... How we will respond to life and what it has to offer.
The people who make good choices succeed. Those who make poor choices do not.

And all our choices have consequences... For instance...
- No married couple suddenly divorces.
- No church suddenly splits.
- Nobody becomes critical and judgmental overnight.
- Nobody decides to become a gossip in one moment.
- Nobody makes one long leap from the pinnacle of praise to the swamp of carnality.

Every morning... We make choices that affect our day...
- The choices we make determine the path we travel.
- The choices we make determine the enjoyment we experience in living.
- The choices we make will determine what kind of relationship we will have with God... and with one another. This is why our subject tonight is so important.

Now... For our text, we look at an example of two men. One made a right choice, the other made an unwise choice. The one was Abraham... The other was Lot.

God called Abraham to leave his home, his family and the farm and come follow Him. And that's not exactly what Abraham did. At first he moved from Ur to Haran with his father, brother and his nephew, Lot. You see, Abraham only halfway obeyed God's call. Instead of going all the way to Canaan, Abraham stopped at Haran. After His father died, Abraham traveled on to the promise land. However, he didn't stay there, but traveled on to Egypt. It was at this point that Abraham claimed Sarah (his wife) as his sister out of fear that Pharaoh would kill him to have Sarah. Having been kicked out of Egypt due to the deception, the group headed back for the land of Canaan. So, finally after several trials, Abraham comes to Canaan and stays there. We are made to wonder how many trials and how much suffering Abraham could have avoided, if he had made the right choice in the first place... If he had of chosen to go straight to Canaan and stayed there.

Abraham and Lot both raised sheep and other livestock. They were doing very well for themselves. But their flocks and herds depended on grazing land and water, there was competition between Lot's employees and the men who worked for Abraham. The tension got so bad that there was constant animosity. Abraham realized that this could not continue. It was time to go their separate ways. So, Abraham, the older of the two, allowed Lot to choose which way he wanted to turn and Abraham would go the other way. Of course, this was a breech of protocol. Abraham should have made the choice because of his seniority. But Abraham gave up his privilege and let his nephew choose. Scripture tells us... Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. So Lot chose for himself the best part, the plain of the Jordan and set out toward the East. In other words, Lot saw the land that held the best potential for profit and enjoyment and he chose it.

Since we have history on our side, we know the results of those choices. Lot ended up living in Sodom. He and his family were kidnapped and had to be rescued by Abraham. Later, Lot was forced to leave Sodom before God destroyed it for its wickedness. Lot lost his wife and had a sinful relationship with his daughters. I suspect if Lot had it to do over again he would have chosen the land to the west.

Abraham on the other hand, ended up in the land we know today as Israel.
- His household was blessed.
- His descendants did become a great nation.
- Abraham made the right choice.
- Lot made the poor choice.

So here's the question...

What can we learn about decision making from this narrative?

First... We learn that the more stuff we have... The more complicated life becomes.
It's interesting that the thing that caused the conflict between the two groups and the resulting parting of the ways was the abundance of things Abraham and Lot possessed. You see, abundance not only battles for our heart, it also complicates our lives.

Think of how simple life was when we were younger. We didn't have to concern ourselves with such things as:
- Payment plans,
- Interest rates,
- Insurance premiums,
- Investment portfolios
- And estate planning.
We didn't have to worry about:
- Maintenance schedules,
- Current fashion trends,
- And keeping up with the Joneses.
Life was simple... Decisions were easier to make.

James Dobson talks about buying a swing set for his children. He put it together. He related the frustration with the various parts and the instructions. When the swing set was finally erected, he read how he was supposed to oil the joints and tighten all the bolts once a month. His conclusion was simple... He did not own a swing set... The swing set owned him!

While Jesus walked on the earth he had very little. When he sent his disciples out to minister he told them to... (WHAT??)... Take little. Jesus understood that the simple life was easier to manage.

In his book, THREE MEN IN A BOAT, Jerome K. Jerome writes... Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need--a homely home and simple pleasures, one or two friends worth the name, someone to love, and someone to love you. You will find the boat easier to pull then, and it will not be so liable to upset, and it will not matter so much if it does upset; good, plain merchandise will stand water. You will have time to think as well as to work.

If we want to make good decisions we need to...
- Unclutter our lives,
- Simplify the problem.
Decisions will be easier to make if we learn to live more simply. Much of our paralysis in good decision making, comes from having too many variables... RIGHT?

I think this is the kind of life Paul was talking about when he said... Godliness with contentment is great gain. You see... Paul had learned to be content in every circumstance. In other words... he had learned to stop running after what he didn't have, so that he could enjoy what he did have. Church... Don't you want that in your life? Much of our DISCONTENT TODAY is caused by our own stress and clutter of life with our desire of too many things. We are making foolish choices because we want something we don't need, instead of being happy and grateful for what we do have.

How do we know if we are struggling with such discontentment?
Alistair Begg, in his book, Made for His Pleasure, gives this list. He says, we are struggling with discontentment:
- If thoughts of money consume our day
- If other people's success makes me jealous
- If we define success in terms of what we have rather than what we are in Christ
- If our family is neglected in our pursuit of money and things.
- If we close our eyes to the genuine needs of others.
- If we are living in the paralyzing fear of losing what we have.
- If we are prepared to borrow ourselves into bondage.
- If God gets our leftovers, rather than our firstfruits.

Church... Isn't it time to unclutter life so that we can see more clearly to make good decisions for our own well being... As well as the well being of our families?

This leads us to our next thought... Good choices start by asking the right questions.
Lot surveyed the options before him. He saw a well-watered area for his livestock. But he also saw that the land looked a lot like Egypt. So... What was the real reason that Lot chose the east? Could it be that Lot really liked the days in Egypt? Could it be that he loved the excitement of city living and was bored out here in the country?

We'll never know why Lot decided as he did. But, what I think we can see is that Lot was asking the wrong questions. Consider this...
- There is no record that Lot prayed for wisdom.
- There is no record that Lot asked what was best for his family.
- There is no record that Lot was concerned about his relationship with God.
- There is no record that he was concerned... at all... about what would best support the value system he held to. Instead, we seem to see that Lot was motivated by the lure of profit and PLEASURE.

Remember our preaching on the priority of the urgent. We run from thing to thing in our life dealing with the things that scream the loudest. We are constantly putting out fires. The problem with this kind of living is that the priority of the urgent is not the same thing as living by the priority of the important.

You see... Living by the priority of the urgent causes us to lose sight of the things that are important:
- Quiet time with the Lord,
- Time with family,
- Caring for and learning from each other.
- Obeying God and making preparations for the next life.
Living like this tends to make life empty and meaningless.

Lot looked for profit and pleasure. He asked...
- What would be the most exciting?
- What would afford the most pleasure?
- Which would provide the greatest opportunity for advancement?
Wrong Questions!!... Right?

What he should have been asking was...
- Where can I serve God the best?
- Or which is the best place to raise my family?

James Boice says it well... We think that we are different from Lot. But if we have put our job ahead of our family's spiritual life, if we have put our social advancement ahead of a proper association with God's people, if we have let our choices keep us away from a church in which we can grow in faith and worship, we have moved from the highlands to the plain of the Jordan.

Allow me to add other indicators to this list:
- If we are focusing our life on externals and not on the spiritual, we are focusing on the wrong issues.
- If our focus is on attaining status rather than on cultivating character, we are focusing on the wrong issues.
- If we are more concerned with what something costs monetarily instead of what it costs spiritually, we are focusing on the wrong issues.
- If we are focusing on what will be the most enjoyable instead of what is the most beneficial,
we are focusing on the wrong issues.

You see church... as children of God... our values are to be different from the rest of the world. Our primary concern is not profit... pleasure... or the accumulation of things. Our purpose should be to glorify God... and to enjoy Him and his people. If we want to make good decisions, then ask the right questions.

Number three... In every choice... We must trust God's providence.
I want you to know that the best part of this passage is the change in Abraham. In the previous chapter we saw Abraham taking matters into his own hands. He ran to Egypt... and resorted to lies and distortions to protect himself. But in this chapter he has a different attitude.

It's interesting that Abraham's attitude changes after he has had the opportunity to worship once again at Bethel. Let me suggest that perhaps Abraham had not worshipped and fellowshipped with God since the last time he was in Bethel. Do you suppose that this absence from worship might have clouded Abraham's judgment.
And it will ours!!... And it will ours!!

Now... Having spent time with the Lord... Abraham was seeing clearly again.
- Now he remembered that he was in the Father's hands.
- He remembered that his future was not something which was uncertain.
- He remembered that God was leading the way.
Now Abraham was able to let Lot choose... WHY?... Because he trusted God's providence.

Church... Pray that God will help us this New Year to live like Abraham... Knowing that...
- God is in control.
- God loves us.
- God is working all things out to our benefit.
- God never makes a mistake.

You see if we believe this... If we trust God's promises... We will make the best decisions we can... And then trust God for the rest. What an adventurous way to live!!... What an exciting way to live life!! Paul tells us in Acts 17... For it is in Him that we live... move... and exist. Scripture states so clearly that... He upholds all things by his power. Colossians 1.16 & 17 assures us that all things have been created by Him and for Him... And He is before all things... And in Him all things hold together

From the greatest to the least... Nothing is beyond the scope of His sovereign power and providential care.
- He makes the rain to fall,
- The sun to shine,
- The stars to twinkle--in this and all other galaxies.
- He raises up people and kingdoms.
- He cares for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field.
- He numbers the hairs on our heads and determines the days of our lives.

Church... Listen to me... This is the ideal moment for me to urge you to remove three words from your vocabulary as you lean upon God's providence. The words are chance... fate... and luck. Those are humanistic terms. CHANCE... FATE... and LUCK are nothing but words. They can do nothing... NO THING!! The New Testament says that... It is God who is at work in you... both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

You see... Believing in CHANCE... FATE... and LUCK is faithlessness. And the Hebrews writer says that... Without faith, we cannot be pleasing to God. We must make the choice tonight in this beginning of a new year to believe in... God's PROVIDENCE... and not in CHANCE... FATE... and LUCK.

Let's face it... Worry is sin. Worry is, at its root, a lack of faith. It means we don't trust God:
- To lead us rightly,
- To protect us properly,
- Or provide for us adequately.
We worry because we don't trust God! Abraham wasn't worried... WHY?... Because he trusted God. And when we trust God, we too can make right decisions.

OK... Review with me now the rules for making right choices from our study together...

Unclutter our life.
Ask the right questions.
Trust God.
Believe Him when He promises that he will work for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

Church... We are going to be called on this year to make some important decisions that will affect the rest of our lives. We want to make right choices. I hope the lesson tonight will help us.

Right now we all have a choice to make. How will we respond to God's grace gift of salvation?
Some here tonight need to decide to become a child of God by faith, repentance and New Testament baptism, immersion in water for the forgiveness of your sins. Perhaps some of us need to rededicate our lives to Jesus. All of us need to apply the thought of this lesson to our decision making process... RIGHT?

Make the right choice tonight as we stand and sing this invitation song?
Will you come?