“My choices determine my character, which in turn determines my destiny.”

Think about this statement, what does it mean?  

Who do you want to be? Where do you want to go in life? Your choices will form your character. Who you become will determine your ultimate destiny.

Sometimes we are confronted with competing choices. What will we do? Where will our choice take us?  Choices are important. Of course, some choices are more important than others.

The choices to marry, and who to marry, are infinitely more life-changing than what we have for lunch. 

To me, the most life-altering choice I have made concerns Jesus Christ and his claim to be Lord. While there are other choices such as marriage, education, career path, etc. that have greatly affected my life, none has been as important as accepting Jesus as my Lord and attempting to follow Him daily. As a matter of fact, Jesus’ lordship is the foundation from which I want to make all my choices. 

Now, I want to discuss a few ideas about how important it is to use our choices wisely, with some thoughts about something each of us is running out of, TIME. How much time do you think you may have left?  We need to be serious about our choices about how we use our time. 

The fact we are running out of time should challenge us to concentrate on our values and the choices we are making.

Let’s begin with some numbers. What do 168 and 8736 have in common? 168 is the number of hours we have in one week. You’re correct if you have concluded that 8736 has something to do with hours also. 8736 is the hours we are given in one year.

On average an American male lives 76 years, while women outlive us by 5 years. Like me, some of you are “living on borrowed time.” One thing I am aware of is that my “days are numbered.” I am running out of time. While I don’t have a choice about how much time I have left, I do have a choice about what I will do with the time I’m given each day.

Each morning I thank God for granting me another day to live. Today I get to choose how I will invest the time I am given and prepare myself for the life ahead that has no time limit. What about you?

 Now, let’s focus a bit on how our choices affect the person we become. The choices I make each day determine my character, which in turn determines my future. This brings me back to 168 and 8736, and more importantly to 24, the hours I’m given today. This may be the only time I have left. I must make good choices about how I will invest my life because those choices will determine my character.

The importance of character doesn’t get much coverage in social media, tv, or the news nowadays. It is quite evident to me that popularity, wealth, and personal appearance have the top ratings for many people.

Could it be that many of the issues we confront daily are related to the fact that we have bought into the shallow values that are being sold in the marketplace of this world? Remember Paul’s caution to us in Romans 12:1? “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Choices reveal who we are. It has been suggested that you can get a pretty accurate idea about a person’s character by examining their calendar and their checkbook; how we spend our time and money. The way we use time and money indicates what is most important to us. Our behaviors related to these two resources give a vital clue about our most deeply-held values.

Our character, our religion, is not what you profess to believe but how we live. The choices we make concerning our resources are the real test of who we are, not who we think or say we are. Day after day, we make choices that, little by little, make us more like Jesus or put us further and further away from being the person we were created to be.

Our incredible power of choice is used every day as we decide how we treat God, ourself, family members, and others. Oour character is always in the process of developing or devolving, and it is critical that we understand and cooperate with God’s plan and make wise choices in the way we invest our life.

Who are you going to be in ten years if you continue to make the kinds of choices you are making now?  

Jesus tells us to keep things in our brief life in perspective. Our time is limited and we need to be sure we have invested our time, money, and other resources in those things that have eternal value. “Do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and rust can ruin them and thieves can steal them. But lay up for yourself treasures in heaven.” (Matthew 6:19-20).

God has given you today. How will you invest it?

You may have heard of or read the story of how Jim Elliot and some of his missionary friends were killed by some of the very people they were attempting to serve in Christ’s name. Here is what Elliot had to say about serving Jesus,  “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep for what he cannot lose.”  Jim Elliot 

If you want to read a book that will challenge you to get serious about your choices, I encourage you to read my book.

Available now for only $12.95  on this website or you can purchase the paperback at the regular price of $14.95 or e-book at Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=heaven%27s+currency%2C+investing+in+the+things+that+matter+most&crid=2AIWDR62WJ4TH&sprefix=%2Caps%2C61&ref=nb_sb_ss_recent_1_0_recent

 

Additional reading: Why do our choices matter? Check out my blog “3 Reasons Why Your Choices Matter.”  https://www.cosdavis.com/3-reasons-why-your-choices-matter/