Free to Choose

To me, what makes God so awesome is that He gives us the freedom of choice, to follow Him or follow our own vanities. I remember when I was younger and I thought if I had everything I wanted that I would be happy. I went out trying to find happiness in all sort of things; from money, to different women, drinking and partying, material things, status, friends, the list goes on. Every time I would try something new my flesh would be satisfied for awhile but then I would go back to feeling unhappy and depressed.

All along the answer to my eternal happiness was right there all the time just waiting for me to come to the acknowledgement of Him. In all my highs and lows God was always continually speaking to me; sometimes I listened and sometimes I didn’t. The times that I didn’t listen I usually brought some negative situation into my life that I usually ran straight back to God for. When I would ask Him for help He would supply but the help was usually in the form of peace from within.

When we get into bad situations that we bring on ourselves we usually ask God to rectify it for us. Say for example you’re deep in credit card debt and the collectors are calling left and right, we ask God for help and he supplies it, maybe in the form of a strategy to help pay down the debt, or he gives us peace that the situation is going to be ok. On the other hand we were looking for God to miraculously cancel the debt in one instant. God surely can do that but what does that teach you, all that does is enables the same behavior that got you in debt in the first place.

We are Gods children and He is our Father; and as our Father one of the things He does best is teaches us/matures us. I had reached a point in my life where I was tired of messing up, so I took a stand point that from that point on I would ask God before leaping out on my own and trying to gain happiness through vanities. Since I started to do that my life has totally changed, I’m happy when I’m down, I have joy in the times of trouble, and I have more understanding of God and my purpose. Do I still make mistakes, of course I do; but I like to think that I avoid more mistakes than making them.

For me it all boils down to this:

Ecclesiastes 12:13 (NKJV)
Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.

It’s just that simple, and through the sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ we are now redeemed from the curse of death (spiritual death), ain’t life grand? Not too hard to live by, everything else will come into alignment.

Vanity: The futile emptiness of trying to be happy apart from God.

I pray this has been a blessing on your life.

Daryle Houston II
Kingdom Vizion Ministries
www.kingdomvizion.org