It's Your Choice

We all have choices. Usually our choices are influenced by our upbringing. Often our choices are influenced by our circumstances. We make choices when we face new challenges. We make choices when something fantastic occurs. We may choices all the time: every day, moment by moment.

The biggest choice we make can be the most challenging or it can be so very easy. We need to stop and think about why we are making these choices.

The Lord seeks us to make the choice to come to Him. Are we fulfilled? Are we broken? Do we need Him or do we want Him? He’s waiting for us to welcome Him into our lives. He is here for us and He’s not a crutch!

He is here for everyone — both those who are bad and those who are good, and both those who love Him and those who reject Him. Ultimately, He loves each and every one of us because He created us.

He welcomes us all, and He took on all of mankind’s sins. Can you picture His arms outstretched on that tree (that cross)?

You’re at a crossroads. The choice of which way to go is yours. Which choice will you make? Do you choose to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior or not? This is the ultimate, most important choice that you’ll ever make in your whole entire life. I guarantee it!

It’s really all about Him. I say: choose Jesus Christ! Choose God the Father! Choose everlasting life! If you don’t, then I assure you that you will have made your choice from your own free will. You may regret your choice if you deny Him. Why? Because it will result in death, separation, and suffering that will go on and on. Why would anyone choose this over the welcoming loving arms of a Father who desires our love back, too?

Just because “you’re a good person” doesn’t mean you have a “ticket” to Heaven. You must accept God and Jesus Christ into your heart, not just your head (or your mind). If you haven’t read the prior blogs, please do so. I urge you to do so, especially if you haven’t made this choice yet to become a follower of Jesus.

I hope you will make this positive choice. God won’t force you, and I won’t either, but I’ll sure do my best to make sure you know that you have this choice and what it ultimately means when you make your choice.

As the song says, “Jesus Take the Wheel.” The girl being described has lost control of her car. She thought she was going to die. When she finally let God take over, she truly surrendered her life. She decided to change her life by becoming a true follower of Jesus Christ. She needed to give full control to the only One who truly deserves this. God who knows what is best for us. God wants what is best for us. Why? Because He truly loves us more than anyone else ever could or ever will (even our parents or our spouse).

When we accept Jesus Christ into our heart and believe in what He did for us, we will be able to forgive others and accept His forgiveness for us, too. We will believe and grow in our faith. We will be able to commit our lives to Him because I tell you the truth: it’s all about Him!

The girl in the car no longer wanted to do it her way anymore because she realized it wasn’t working out her way. But it wasn’t until she thought her life may be over that she finally made the choice to change.

Why wait? It could be too late. You need to make the choice before you die, and the sooner, the better, or you may not have the choice to accept Jesus into your heart anymore! You never know when your time is going to end here in this life (on this earth).

How about getting passionate for God? How about giving the Lord the kind of praise and recognition that you probably give someone else right now?

We can love God back and choose Heaven. If you truly knew what Hell was like, you would never want to go there!

Thank God there is redemption for our soul through the blood of Jesus Christ who became our sacrifice.

“For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when He held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past for He was looking ahead and including them in what He would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness for He himself is fair and just, and He declares sinners to be right in His sight when they believe in Jesus.” (Romans 3:25-26)

We need to see the eternal view of life and death, and of the new life here that can be obtained first. It is found through the rebirth that God offers for each and every one of us to become a new person in Christ. (See verses in the Bible about rebirth and being born again in John 3:3-7, I Peter 1:3, and 1 Peter 1:23. See verses about becoming a new person or a new creation in Galatians 6:5 and 2 Corinthians 5:17.)

As my keychain says: “Got Jesus? It’s hell without Him!” Quite a strong statement, huh? Yes, it is! This is a life and death choice! It’s a decision that we have been given full authority to make. Each one of us has this choice.

We will all live on from here. You will live on in Heaven or die in Hell. The thing most people don’t realize is that you are constantly dying in Hell, suffering continually, and forevermore separated from your Creator, God. In Heaven, you are in peace and love, surrounded and embraced by your Creator, God’s love.

Will you choose life or death today? What will your answer be?

It all starts here: "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved." (Romans 10:9-10) — "... Indeed, the 'right time' is now. Today is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2)

God must be first and foremost! For He is our life and our salvation (that is, our life beyond the death of this body we now inhabit).

What’s your goal? For those who have made the choice to follow Jesus: “… Our goal is to please Him [God].” (2 Corinthians 5:9)

Until we virtually meet again, may God call you to Himself.

God’s Word for Today: “I call Heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, so that both you and your seed may live. That you may love the Lord your God, and that you may obey His voice, and that you may cleave to Him: for He is your life, and the length of your days: that you may dwell in the land that the Lord gave to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20 − my emphasis in bold)

Copyright © 2015 by Patricia Shehan

All scripture is quoted from various translations of the Holy Bible (God’s Word) and is set in italics and quotation marks.