Choices (Pt.1)

“Who are those who fear the Lord? He will show them the path they should choose.”-Psalm 25:12 (NLT)

Choices! I read an article recently about a Columbia researcher who has found that the average person makes about 70 conscious choices everyday. That amounts to 25,500 choices a year. Meaning that over 70 years a person will make 1,788,500 choices on average.

As I searched the internet I found what, at first, I thought was information that was countering her findings. Multiple other sites say that the average person makes 35,000 decisions per day. This may sound contradictory, however, choosing and making decisions are not necessarily the same thing.

Decisions are made as we eliminate options compared to making a choice which involves empowering ourselves to choose.

Let’s say I am approaching  fork in the road. Both roads take us to our destination, one appears to be paves and well maintained, the other is a dirt road and extremely difficult to navigate. As we approach the fork in the road, upon looking at the options we decide that dirt road looks too difficult to pass, so we veer right, we’ve made a decision. If we approach the fork in the  road and stop to consider the ramifications of taking each path and ultimately decide that going left will produce in us something that will strengthen our character, then we’ve made a choice. Most of what we face each day are not choices, but decisions. In fact, most of our decisions are informed by our emotions or preferences, where choices are rooted in values and beliefs. Things can get sticky when we make choices based on emotions and preferences.

We can spend our lifetime making all sorts of decisions, yet we spend little time, if any, making distinctive life choices. If it is true that we make 35,000 decision per day and only 70 distinct life choices; then it would be easy for those important life changing moments to get swallowed up by decisions that are fleeting.

According to Psalm 25:12, God has empowered us to choose! In one of my favorite verses in the Bible, God is speaking to Israel and declares in Deuteronomy 30:19:

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

God has given us the ability to choose a path that leads to life or choose a path that leads to death. Next week I want to focus in on six areas in which you’ve been given the ability to choose that can impact you life everyday: love, joy, peace, forgiveness, serving God and salvation.

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church