Choices, Your Life, and God

And as we said in last week’s sermon, this is a fairly common teaching that is presented in the media and writings in the world around us!  Lots of different “ways” to God, lots of choices on the menu for you to choose from!

Choices and Life Management

When it comes to choosing, surely it is right to say that we take care of “managing” the time in our life. We do have lots of choices with actually filling our days with what we think is important, the task of going about the business of day to day life.  There are careers to plan and take care of, which are important. How much of my time am I willing to put into preparing for my career?  How much time do I spend each week at the career that I find myself in now? Also, there are family concerns. You want to spend time with parents, children, brothers and sisters. You want your family to be considered in your time management, which is very important. And you probably want to have some hobbies or sports or recreation built in there somewhere to enjoy.

There are a lot of choices that we face as we manage our lives.  How you balance and try to blend those has a lot to do with your personal happiness in life, how much enjoyment, satisfaction, fun and excitement that you have in your days.  Everyone would like to say that they have it worked out where they are able to balance those important parts of life just how they would like to.  But I don’t know anyone who would say that they are able to manage their time exactly how they would like to.  It is a concern for everyone! Corporate Presidents, full-time moms, even kids with busy schedules... it is hard to choose and manage and juggle all the different things to a nice comfortable balance.

And then comes the issue of where does one’s relationship with God come in to the factor of time management of our lives and the choices we make about our time!!

Is there time for God?

As we said last week, research shows that the majority of people believe in the existence of God. They feel and know inside that God is real and is more powerful than they are. So, in this whole concept of managing the time in our lives, there is the obvious concern and question that can be asked, “Where do I have God fit in?”   Where is my relationship with God reflected in my budgeting, and prioritizing, and management of my time and my energy and my efforts in life??

Ask yourself, “Does my approach to who God is, and what he means to me, end up influencing this freedom of choice that I have with regard to the management of my time and what I spend my life doing”? We have so many, many “choices” to make with regard to how we manage our lives. Does that kind of “choice” thinking become how we end up thinking with regard to the role that God will play in our lives?

That is where many people start their approach to a personal relationship with God.  Where does He fit comfortably into my life?  I have a lot of things on my plate!  I have a lot of responsibilities, a lot of plans.  I have some fun things that I want to do in life as well. In starting from this approach, even though I might think that He has a place in my life, the question becomes whether I can try to squeeze some time and space in there for God.

And here is where our choices and our time management affect our topic of “pluralism”.  Does our approach to squeezing God into our life affect who we come to think of God as? Does the world around us seek God, and try to define God, in a way that is comfortable to their life?  Think about this.  Are there things that Scripture says that are uncomfortable?  Are there things that maybe would affect and upset the whole balancing and planning and ways that I am familiar with in life??

Well then, (maybe the approach might occur where one unconsciously says) “I need to define God, and define what Scripture says, in a way that is comfortable to me in a way that fits in to my life!”

The starting spot

Do you see where the focus of this type of thinking is?  It is on the person and not on God!  The starting point is me, and my life! Pluralism, the concept that there are many paths to be with God, lets the person define God.  Pluralism lets the individual make the choice about the way they want to picture God, and how it makes them feel comfortable.

A person… choosing… the Way to God!

Scripture tells us a much different picture… Jesus tells us a much different story…
“I Am the Way”.  Follow me.

Do you hunger for Eternal Life?  “I Am the Bread of Life.  I Am the Bread come down from Heaven.  I Am the Resurrection and the Life, he who believes in me will live… even though he dies.”

Jesus did not teach us that following Him and believing in Him was a way to heaven, one of the many ways. No, He told us of the one truth.  Not many truths, just one truth!  He taught us the reality of who He is, “If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free”!

Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life… for everyone!  Everyone!  That is the Truth!  But it is still a very personal individual relationship that each person must have themselves.  Martin Luther described the life of being a Christian as an important emphasis on a possessive pronoun.  It is quite one thing to make the general statement that “Christ is a Saviour” or even to say… the Saviour of the World.  It is quite another thing to say “He is my Saviour and my Lord.”  Only a Christian can make the second statement!

When you bend your knee, and acknowledge that you are a sinner in need of a Saviour, that is when Jesus is recognized as “The Way… the Truth… the Life”.  The only way!

One who worships God… worships Jesus.
One who worships Jesus… worships God… because He is God!

There was a man who he decided that he wanted to do something of service with his life and he studied to be a doctor.  But instead of setting up a cushy practice and charging a lot for this service, after graduation he went off into missionary medical work. The group that he traveled around with went to small remote South American villages and would share the Gospel and bring medical attention to the villagers. They went to the most remote, small villages far away from civilization. Often times, they would get flown by plane to somewhere a day or two’s travel by foot to where the village was reported to be. At one particular village, as they were doing their medical care and spreading the Good News, he and his group heard about another village 3-4 days away by foot where there was a lot of sickness and where people were dying. Now the doctor knew that this sounded very much like it might be the result of something that we might refer to as a childhood disease, something that our bodies would fight or that we could easily get medicine for. But something that these remote villagers isolated from civilization might all end up dying from.

The man who knew of the village said that he would be willing to lead them and they took off, supplies in hand behind them. To the doctor’s dismay, the guide headed straight into the bush and started hacking away at vines and plants and the going was very slow. There was a lot of standing, getting bitten by all sorts of bugs and feeling extremely hot. They assumed he was working his way toward a road in that direction. This went on all day and it was getting very frustrating to the doctor that the man would hack for awhile then he would just sit and rest. He would look around a little and then slowly start hacking his way into the bushes again.  After a whole day of what seemed like they weren’t even going anywhere near to a straight line, the doctor started to lose his patience. When the man stopped to sit on a fallen tree the doctor said to him “Listen, maybe I didn’t make myself clear, we are quite anxious to get to this village. Why don’t you just give us the map of how to get there and we can go on ahead.  There are a few of us and we will use the map to find the village together some other way."

The man looked at them with a little puzzlement, “You can go on ahead if you would like, but there is no map… I am the map”. He explained further, “There are no roads or paths out here; everything gets grown over so thick it is hard to see anything over the tops of the trees to get a bearing.  There is no other way for you to find… I am the only way for you to find the village”. The doctor’s lesson about there being only one “WAY” to the village is also a lesson the Gospel teaches us about there being only one “WAY” to eternal life.  Jesus is the WAY!  There are not many various ways for us to go find!

Through faith in Jesus, we have the promise of a home in Heaven and forgiveness of our sins. Through faith in Jesus as our personal Saviour!  It is Jesus' death and resurrection that has made all that possible for us.  We believe in Him, we trust in Him as the one who conquered sin and death, and He brings us across that great divide to our home in heaven! 

As you manage your schedule, and your time, and your career, and your responsibilities, and your fun, there will certainly be a lot of choices for you to make with your life. BUT, there is not a menu of choices for how we want to define who God is, and how we would like Him to conform to our perception and our will.

As you manage your busy schedule and balance your life, know of God’s great Love for YOU!  Know and Trust that Jesus is your Saviour!  He is the WAY and you can trust your life and all your future to following Him!!!