April 16 - Choices

My wife and I ran in a 5K this morning. It was wet, cold, and windy, but nonetheless, we still ran it. I placed 6th overall and 3rd in my age group. 

Romans 2:6-9

6 God "will give to each person according to what he has done." 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immorality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.

When we do good...we should seek glory and honor, not for ourselves, but for the Lord. Our ability to do good is a reflection of God's blessings in our lives and the love the God has, being revealed in the physical through us, his people. 

Tonight, we had to chaperone our school's prom. I know, not all of the students that attended left the event and got drunk, high, pregnant, or anything in between. I do know, however that there were some that did partake in those activities. It's very evident, both in tonight as an example and every day I go to work, that student's have choices and the ability to exercise their decisions with those choices. 

Of course, one cannot receive eternal life, just by doing good things. The decision must be made to accept Christ. To live for him is to die to this world. Doing good, making right choices, living according to his word, seeking out his will, sharing his love with the world is what he desires of us. 

Those that do bad and evil things do not please God. I am not judging those who went and downed beer after beer after prom tonight. I am not judging the man who got off of work and headed to the strip club or smoked a few packs, draining his wallet, leaving his family without any money for groceries. God is the Judge of our decisions and choices. We can choose to do right or we can choose to do wrong. The bible makes it very clear in reference to the outcome of each decision we make. Especially, in regards to salvation:

Choose to accept and live for Christ and receive eternal life in heaven.

Choose to reject Christ and live for the world and receive eternal life in hell.