We are surrounded by choices from sunup to sunset.  Just to get out of bed is the first choice of our day.  As soon as we choose to do it, we are faced with more choices: we choose what clothes we are going to wear, what we’re going to eat for breakfast, what we’re going to read while we eat that breakfast and what we listen to as we drive to work.  We do all that even before the official start of the day (for some, the day only officially starts after the first cup of coffee!).

Do I choose a Hawaiian shirt in bright colors or something more subdued?  Do I eat donuts for breakfast or eggs with stewed tomatoes?  Do I check out facebook and catch up with friends and family as I consume my chosen breakfast or do I open the Bible and catch up on some godly inspiration for the day?  None of these choices of themselves are necessarily good or bad depending on the context and my motives in choosing them.

The free will that we enjoy today dates back to the Garden of Eden when God planted two trees: the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  He warned Adam not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and told him about the consequences.  Our choices do have consequences.  If I choose to eat M & M’s every day for breakfast, there will be hell to pay eventually.  You could compare that to choosing death.  If I choose healthy foods, I would be choosing a healthy natural life.  So too, choosing positive activities, thoughts and qualities enhances my spiritual life.  Choosing those things is like choosing life.

As we go through our day, we can reflect God in our choices.  What does God want me to do today?  And God is not religious!  By that, I mean that He doesn’t want me to stay in my closet praying the Our Father all day.  How can that help anyone?  He understands that we need to live our daily lives.  But as we do that, we have choices that can showcase His goodness and inspire both ourselves and others.  So, rather than choosing to always promote ourselves, we can choose God.  Most interestingly, we can choose our attitude.  When someone rubs me the wrong way, instead of irritation, I can choose love.  Instead of a sarcastic reply, I can choose either silence with a smile or perhaps even a kind answer.  Instead of moping about, I can choose to be happy.  We can all make godly choices in the apparently little things as our day rolls along.  Those choices will engender an abundant and godly life for ourselves and for those that we  meet.

CHOOSE LIFE!!!