Ultimate Decision
But seek
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things
will be added to you. “Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for
tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Matthew 6:33-34.
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things
will be added to you. “Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for
tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Matthew 6:33-34.
‘First things first’ is a quote
adopted in this world, and yet it depends on what person’s belief system
what ‘first’ is. The wise thing to do is to look First to God! He is the
First and Last. The Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end.
adopted in this world, and yet it depends on what person’s belief system
what ‘first’ is. The wise thing to do is to look First to God! He is the
First and Last. The Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end.
Righteousness is part of Who God is. He leads me in the paths of righteousness.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the
noonday. Psalm 37:6.
Throughout life, we have priorities that determine our understanding of life.
We gain the necessities of life through the comfort of loving arms and care as
planned by God. When we are first born, we do not understand the ‘why’s’ of our
birth, our needs, and the love that God has for us.
At some point, we learn about deciding and we learn right from wrong. We learn
to consider the inevitable consequences of the choices we make. One joy I had
as a young girl included reading. I soon learned to choose the wrong book might
not be as exciting as I desired. I learned by the age of eight to look for two
criteria in choosing a book. The book must be worn from the many hands that
held it. The second criteria came when I looked inside at several
pages. If more quotation marks than periods appeared, I knew it would be
action-filled. I also learned not to read while housecleaning on Saturday
was in full sway. Mom always hid my books.
Later, as a teacher, I attended a workshop, and I learned from where my
weariness came. A teacher makes four decisions a minute. It didn’t lessen
weariness, but now I could label the weariness. In verse 34 of Matthew 6, Therefore,
do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. This
verse could be my goal in life and let tomorrow be anxious for itself.
Jesus taught his disciples as He was ready to take leave when His ministry was
near the end. “I have said these things to you, that in me you
may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation.
But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33. In
Jesus, we will find peace.
The greatest decision we can make is to follow our Lord and Savior, sent from
our Father God to teach us. It is through His Wisdom He spoke the Word and
created the mysteries of life and the intricacies of the laws of life.
When the time was right, God gave us the greatest gift of gifts when He sent
Jesus to earth as a helpless Baby. Jesus taught his disciples who taught
others. He taught us how to have peace, how to love and how to pray. (John
14:27, John 3:16-17, Matthew 6:7-15).
He taught us to love with these two commandments. And
He said to him, “You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor
as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39.
Because of Jesus, we rejoice. Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say,
rejoice. Philippians 4:4.
We rejoice because Jesus did not turn back from His purpose when He was nailed
to the cross. Does Jesus love us? He loved us enough to die for
all of us on the cross. Then on the third day, He rose again!
And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel
of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on
it. His appearance
was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled
and became like dead men. But
the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus
who was crucified.” He is
not here, for He has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where
He lay. Matthew 28:2-6.
There are many decisions awaiting us, but the
ultimate decision is, What will I do with God’s Gift, Jesus? While Jesus
was on earth, He decided many things and we can learn from the way he
decided. He chose His Path, then withdrew to ponder His decision, and
then prayed to His Father in Heaven. He knew His purpose on earth and
aligned his decisions in keeping with the will of His Father. Our
all-powerful, ever-present God has a purpose for us as well in this life. Will
we get in His way, or follow Him, praising the One who loves us with an
everlasting love? Death seals all—the choices we make
here impact us for eternity.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
In love He predestined
us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus
Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us
in the Beloved. In Him, we have redemption through His
blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His
grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and
insight making known to us the mystery of His
will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to
unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. Ephesians 1:3-10.
Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the
foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
In love He predestined
us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus
Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us
in the Beloved. In Him, we have redemption through His
blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His
grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and
insight making known to us the mystery of His
will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to
unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. Ephesians 1:3-10.
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