As Ray and I were picking tomatoes the other day, I was struck by how many decisions we were making. Is this tomato red enough?\u00a0Do I reach up here or down there? If I reach for this one, will I knock that one on the ground? Is that the one I just dropped or is it another one that has rotted from lying on the ground? Should I leave this one on the vine a little while longer? Should I go on and pick this one and let it ripen on the counter?<\/p>\n
Isn’t life like picking tomatoes–one decision after another? I’m glad I can choose.\u00a0I praise God that He didn’t make me a robot but gave me the opportunity to make decisions.<\/p>\n
The other day Ray and I were talking about someone we love, whose decisions have made life a bit more difficult than it really has to be. Ray realized that this person probably has trouble making decisions. Sometimes–many, many times–it is easier simply to float along and let things just happen or stay the way they have been. Sometimes we make\u00a0decisions by not making decisions. Decision-making takes courage. Not making decisions is not a very courageous or effective or faithful way to decide.<\/p>\n
Our children need good examples of decision-making. Our decisions don’t have to be perfect every time. We can adjust later. It’s okay to pick a tomato that’s not quite ripe. I can always decide later to leave it on the counter. What if I were so afraid of making decisions that I stayed in the house and didn’t pick any tomatoes at all? Isn’t going out to the tomato patch and deciding to plunge in better than not going at all, even if I make a few mistakes while I’m there?<\/p>\n
Walking in the steps of Jesus is a process of making big decisions and moment-by-moment ones. As I walk, I decide where to put my foot next, whether to walk slowly or quickly,\u00a0whether to turn to the right or the left or stay on the path I am taking. I decide what I will see as I walk, what I will hear, and who will walk along with me. Another word for decide is choose. This is what Joshua said to the Israelites about that:<\/p>\n
. . . Choose for yourselves today <\/em> We live in a world that wants us to be like the Amorites in whose land we are living. It is up to us to make the choice for ourselves and our houses, that we will serve the Lord.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As Ray and I were picking tomatoes the other day, I was struck by how many decisions we were making. Is this tomato red enough?\u00a0Do I reach up here or down there? If I reach for this one, will I knock that one on the ground? Is that the one I just dropped or is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":6}},"yoast_head":"\n
\nwhom you will serve: <\/em>
\nwhether the gods which your fathers served <\/em>
\nwhich were beyond the River, <\/em>
\nor the gods of the Amorites <\/em>
\nin whose land you are living; <\/em>
\nbut as for me and my house, <\/em>
\nwe will serve the Lord.\u201d<\/em>
\nJoshua 24:15, NASB<\/em><\/p>\n