Articles
Which We We Want More?
Life truly is a matter of choices. Every day, we are faced with multiple choices, and those choices all add up to our individual lives, and they contribute to who we are and become, and reveal to everyone else what matters most to us. This truth is shown throughout Scripture and, I hope to no one’s surprise, many of those choices are spiritually related and will eventually decide our eternal destination. Let us for today consider some of those choices that most all of us will face, where we will have to make a choice; those choices determine and reveal what is in our hearts and what is our focus.
Self, or God? Only one will can truly rule and guide our lives, so will it be self will or God’s will? The Scriptures are plain in telling us that those who are “self-seeking” can only expect “indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish” from God, in the end (Rom. 2:8). But we have a choice! The alternative is doing the will of the Father. Jesus said it is the one “who does the will of My Father in heaven” who will “enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 7:21), and He exemplified this when, shortly before He was taken away to be tried and crucified — and He knew what lay ahead — He prayed to the Father, “not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:41). And those were not mere words: He kept the Father’s will — perfectly. The writer of Hebrews, in fact, points to this as the time when, having done everything the Father willed, Jesus “became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Heb. 5:8, 9).
Let us not deceive ourselves in this, thinking we can do ‘mostly’ the Father’s will and be acceptable to Him. Let us also not deceive ourselves into thinking if we just align our will with God’s that will be the same as making His will the rule over all. No, friends and brethren, we must completely set aside our will and elevate and exalt God’s will to the sole and ruling will. If we merely align our will with God’s, then we are just ‘agreeing’ with God; there will inevitably be a point when we do not agree; then what? Whose will rules then? It is only when God’s will —and only God’s will — rules us that we will have made the proper choice.
Fleshly-Minded, or Spiritually-Minded? A good number of individuals today do not believe there is even a spiritual side of man, much less any spiritual beings or spiritual promises or hopes. Such is foolish thinking, to say the least, and when such ones stand before God in the final judgment to give an account, there will no longer be any doubts, but it will then be too late to do anything about it. We need to know right now that we have a choice to make as to what kind of person we will be while we live: Focused on the fleshly things, or on the spiritual things?
Because we are fleshly beings, it is only natural that we would think about fleshly things, but God calls us to think deeper, think differently, and think eternally, rather than thinking only of the things of this world. Some will, no doubt, choose to focus on the fleshly things, but we need to know that God has told us plainly, “the carnal mind is enmity against God,” and, “those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:5-8). God calls us to think beyond this visible world and “seek those things which are above, where Christ is,” and to “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:1, 2). Why? Because, as Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21); what you value most is what you will desire and think about. Choose that which is far better than any earthly riches!
Disbelief, or Faith? Yes, the things of this world are material and visible, while the spiritual things are unseen, but that does not mean God asks us to believe without evidence [as some define faith]. There is ample evidence within the written record of God’s word, the Bible, to cause one to believe Jesus both existed, and that He was who He claimed to be — the Son of God (John 20:30, 31). Faith means taking all the evidence of those unseen things and putting it to the test, instead of merely ignoring it or dismissing it because it is not what we want to believe. We are, in fact, “without excuse” if we dismiss the evidence for God’s existence (Rom. 1:18-21), and no less guilty of foolishness if we deny His testimony about Jesus!
Yes, you have a choice in the matter; God has provided the evidence and testimony (cf. 1 John 5:9-11), but He leaves it to us to believe or not. He will compel no one to believe, if they do not want to. But we should also know that we do not get to choose the consequences of disbelief; that has already been decided (Mark 16:16)!
Give in, or Resist? If we didn’t know it already, we have a spiritual “adversary the devil” who “walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). Though the old Flip Wilson line of “The devil made me do it” is popular, we need to know he is not able to force any of us to sin against our will. Peter further admonished the disciples to “Resist him, steadfast in the faith” (1 Pet. 5:9). In fact, James tells us that if we “Resist the devil… he will flee from you” (Jas. 4:7), so we can choose to give in, or we can choose to resist.
God has told us plainly, “each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed” (Jas. 1:14), so we would do well to acknowledge our desires and weaknesses and resist because we have a choice. In fact, God “will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Cor. 10:13), so the choice is ours: give in to our desires and the temptations that follow, or resist and escape.
Hell, or Heaven? This sounds like what we sometimes call “a no-brainer.” We shouldn’t even really have to think too hard on this, or think at all! What individual in their right mind would willingly choose to go to hell — a place described as “the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41), or, “everlasting punishment” (Matt. 25:46)? While some joke about it, mock the idea, and make light of it, those who believe it is indeed a real place do not have any desire to be in a place of eternal torment. Hell is not where anyone wants to go, and wouldn’t honestly wish it on anyone else, even in jest or in anger.
As much as we may shudder at the idea of being confined to an eternal hell, we need to know and acknowledge that our choices that we make in life will determine whether this is our final destination, or heaven. If we willingly choose self-will over God’s, we cannot honestly expect heaven as a reward. If we choose to live as a fleshly-minded citizen of this world, we cannot expect God to change his mind just for us and suddenly approve. If we choose disbelief — despite all the testimony of a God who cannot lie (Titus 1:2) and the evidence He has preserved for us — we can expect nothing less than God’s vengeance and to “be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thess. 1:8, 9). We cannot give in to temptations, which inevitably leads to sin and spiritual death (Jas. 1:14, 15), and expect God to grant to us eternal life. No, friends and brethren, our choices add up to a final judgment that will be pronounced upon us and irrevocable — for good or bad.
Choose wisely, my friend, for your eternity hangs in the balance. Choose ‘the road less traveled’ — that leads to eternal life (Matt. 7:13, 14). — Steven Harper
