A Sermon By Pastor Steve Ferguson

CHOICES

Gen. 2:15-17

The Definition of the word choice it means the act of choosing or to make a selection.

There are only two choices we can make one is right the other is wrong.

Our choices reveal the kind of persons we are, but there is another side to the coin.

We may by our choices also determine what kind of persons we will become.

It’s all about making the right choice.

Ask God to give you a special awareness in your choices today as well as renewed commitment to make the right ones.

Choices – are given to us by God.

God gave Adam responsibility for the garden and told him not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Rather than physically preventing him from eating,

God gave Adam a choice, and thus the possibility of choosing wrongly.

God still gives us choices, and we, too, often choose wrongly. These wrong choices may cause us pain, but they can help us learn and grow and make better choices in the future.

Living with the consequences of our choices teaches us to think and choose more carefully.

1 Choices of Disobedience is foolish

(Duet. 11:26)

Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;

God set before the Israelites a choice between blessings and curses.

They chose the curses.

We have the same fundamental choice today.

We can live for ourselves or live in service to God.

To choose our own way is to travel on a dead-end road, but to choose God’s way is to receive eternal life.

(John 5:24)

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

2 Choices and their effects should be considered

(Prov.1:10-19)

We must learn to make choices, not on the basis of flashy appeal or short-range pleasure, but in view of the long-range effects.

Sometimes this means steering clear of people who want to entice us into activities that we know are wrong.

We can’t be friendly with sin and expect our lives to remain unaffected.

3 Choices when made right have great benefits.

(Prov.13:6)

Righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way: but wickedness overthrow the sinner.

Every choice for good sets into motion other opportunities for good.

Each decision you make to obey God’s Word will bring a greater sense of order to your life, while each decision to disobey will bring confusion and destruction

The right choices you make reflect your integrity.

Obedience brings the greatest safety and security.

I. MATTHEW made the right Choice to follow Jesus for SALVATION.

(Matt. 9:9) And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

Two changes happened to Matthew when he decided to follow Jesus. First, Jesus gave him a new life. He not only belonged to a new group; he belonged to the Son of God.

He was not just accepting a different way of life; he was now an accepted person.

For a despised tax collector, that change must have been wonderful! Second, Jesus gave Matthew a new purpose for his skills.

When he followed Jesus, the only tool from his past job that he carried with him was his pen.

From the beginning, God had made him a record-keeper.

II. JOSEPH made the right choice about the temptation of his SEDUCTION.

(Gen.39: 7-9 )

7. And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.

8. But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;

9. There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

III. BOZA made the right choice about his SPOUSE.

a. Her choice

Ruth 1:16-17

16. And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

17. Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

b. Her care

c. His compassion

d. Their ceremony “Wedding bells started ringing.”

“A chart to help us to make the right choices.”

Will this choice help my witness for Christ?

Will this choice help me do my best ?

Is this choice against a specific command in scripture and would thus cause me to sin?

Does this choice glorify God?

Will this choice cause someone else to sin?

Before you make a choice ask this question “What would Jesus do?”