No use to lay there and wish that fire going. Long ago I learned nothing gets done just by wishing. You have to do it.”
–Louis L’Amour (Hanging Woman Creek)
“We are none of us to have the spirit of Cain, who was a son of the devil and murdered his brother. Have you realised his motive? It was just because he realised the goodness of his brother’s life and the rottenness of his own.”
–1 John 3:12 (Phillips)
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When I taught my senior Bible class one of the units I put in the curriculum was, “Choices.” From the time we are very small, in those days of developing personality we are constantly bombarded with choices, and that continues until we die. Many times with the physical/material choice, there is also a choice to be made in attitude. Many choices involve morality and following God’s Word.
To not make a choice is in itself making a choice. One thing for sure, if you don’t make choices, someone else will make the choice for you. It’s starts in the morning: get up, hit the snooze, or pull the covers over the head? From there the day is full of choices, many of them small, while others may have severe consequences.
I came across an article this week in my reading from a little booklet I own. It was written by an Air Force chaplain, John R. Ellis, back in the 1960s.
“‘Let us go up at once, and occupy it; for we are well able to overcome it.’ (Numbers 13:30)
This is an ancient story about a commander who sent out a patrol to gather intelligence data prior to a planned invasion. The majority of the patrol reported that the land was occupied by giants and that they were as grasshoppers in the sight of the enemy. But two men were men of faith–Joshua and Caleb. Caleb urged, ‘Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.’
This story suggests we have two ways of facing life: the way of fear and the way of faith. Life consists of a long series of problems that require decisions–both personal and professional. We want to know how to handle these problems.
The majority of us are not interested in pious platitudes or cliches. We want a philosophy that will win, one that we can live by.
Each person has within himself the ability to find a satisfactory solution to each problem of life. Dare we suggest that a former commander of the European Security Region was right when he voiced his philosophy: ‘There are no problems. There are only opportunities to excel!’?
Prayer: Lord God, help me to accept the problems of life as a challenge. Temper the challenge with courage, and give me faith to know from whence comes my strength. Amen.”
Most of the choices we make do not need courage or an abundance of faith. However, there are those times in life where we must stand up and be counted. Times when we make a decision to serve God or cower away to sit in the corner. Tell me, what were the names of the other ten spies?