choices

My friend forwarded this message to me today:

We always have a choice between hope and despair, no matter the circumstances. We always have a choice between fear and faith, no matter how bleak things may look. We always have a choice to give and serve no matter how little we may have.

My pastor preached from Psalm 1 yesterday for the beginning of a sermon series through Psalms. The comparison in this chapter between the righteous and the wicked should grab our attention.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

We have a choice to delight in the instruction of the Lord. We have a choice to let it be in our thoughts throughout the day. Will we ponder and study?

Standing in the path where sinners walk is a choice too. It could be active (purposeful and intentionally) and inactive (unwilling to change your actions). Will we sit down to relax and rest where scoffers and mockers gather?

Charles Spurgeon said, "Sinners cannot live in heaven. They would be out of their element. Sooner could a fish live upon a tree than the wicked in paradise."

For the Lord knows and is fully acquainted with the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly [those living outside God's will] shall perish (end in ruin and come to nought). verse 6, Amplified