Friday, October 28, 2022

October 28, 2022/in Bible Study, Week 3

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Decisions—life is filled with them.

Some internet sources suggest a person navigates 35,000 decisions each day! Many are mundane: Do we get up or sleep in? Wear the blue shirt or the black one? But others carry more weight: Should I buy this car or house? Or, will I create margin with my time or my finances to step into what God is calling me to or do my own thing? And perhaps the weightiest of them all: will I follow Jesus or not?

Regardless of the weight of the decision, each one requires us to count the cost. For each, we must ask—is it worth it? Sometimes those decisions require the inconvenient and uncomfortable path. A path that isn’t always the popular choice in today’s world.

Over the past three weeks, we have taken a deep dive into the parables from Matthew 25 and explored what it means to live a rich and satisfying life. Our fulfilling future begins by being faithful today. As faith-filled people, we need to leverage our resources to build up the Kingdom. But ultimately, we need to realize that our actions will be driven from our beliefs about God.

While I don’t know your beliefs, and in fact, you may still be working that out yourself, I do know what God believes about us.

John 3:16 (NIV)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus counted the cost and decided YOU are worth it. As we like to say, You Matter! So, the choice in front of us is:

How then shall we live?

Ephesians 5:1-2

1 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. 2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

We can choose to live like the world calls us to, including racking up debt or having too thin a margin, or we can make the decision to live in a way that honors God and serves others.

Live like it matters!

Questions:

What do you believe about God? What is something you could do to know God better?

In what ways do your choices reflect your belief about who God is?

Next Steps:

Spend time getting to know God and deepening your relationship with him. Continue to join us each weekend and spend 15 minutes each day reading the Bible and journaling.

Take time to consider the margin in your life with which you can serve others. If it’s a little thin, consider ways to increase it.

Prayer:

Father, thank you for sending your Son, Jesus, to give us eternal life. Help us to live a life modeled after his kindness and generosity. Enable us to make wise decisions in how we manage our finances, giftings and time, in order to bring you honor and glory in all we do. Amen.