Important Decisions!

For Whoever would love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit, let him turn away from evil and do good, let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous. 1 Peter 3: 10-11

A boy asked his father, “Dad, if three frogs were sitting on a limb hanging over a pool, and one frog decided to jump off into the pool, how many frogs would be left on the limb?” His dad replied, “Two.” “No,” the son replied. “There are three frogs and one decides to jump. How many are left?” “Oh,” the dad replied, “I get it. If one decides to jump, the others would, too, so there are none left.” The boy said, “No, Dad, the frog only decided to jump, so there are three left.”

If that story sounds familiar, it’s probably because many times we decide to do important things in our lives or in the lives of others, but months after the decision, we are still “hanging out on the limb”. We are just like Charlie Brown when he said to Lucy, “You are going to be so proud of me because I have decided that next year is going to be my year of decision.”

It is said that to reach an important decision, we need to figure out what’s the most important goal or idea and push everything else aside. Then, after the decision is made, write it down, and check it off when it’s accomplished. If we constantly wait to act on decisions we have made, we could actually miss the most important changes in life.

This past week has brought much pain to our country, and it has devastated many who lost a loved one and whose lives are changed forever. We woke up on January 2 to the news of yet another act of violence, this time in New Orleans, where at least 14 people were killed and many more injured. What makes a person commit such an act? What happened along his life’s path to bring him to this point? After identifing the assailant, the people close to him told the press, “This is not the man we knew.”

At some point, this man who was born in Texas, a US Army veteran, and a professional made an important decision in his life. He reacted to things which were going wrong for him, maybe he chose to listen to bad advice, and instead of figuring out what was the most important thing, he acted on his hatred, dissatisfaction, or whatever else it might be. He chose to take the lives of innocent people as a way of showing his discontent.

Contrast this event with a different person and a different life. On Sunday of last week, we lost former President Jimmy Carter, a man of great integrity, a peacemaker, a great humanitarin, and a Christian. President Carter was someone who showed consistency in character in all circumstances, someone who always played by the rules, someone who could be relied upon, someone who always offered credit where credit was due, someone who lived by his faith, and someone who trusted God to enable him to accomplish all that he was called upon to do. No matter the different political thoughts about him, President Carter made important decisions early in his life which enabled him to be a man of great character. I am certain he wasn’t always treated fairly, but his Christian background enabled him to make the right decisions along the way.

A decision is defined as a conclusion or resolution reached after consideration. The contrast between the men who made these important decisions is astounding. One made the decision to act selfishly and with malice toward innocent people; the other made the decision to live a life helping and serving others. The difference is a life lived with and for Christ.

We probably all have important decisions that are waiting to be made in our lives. If the Lord were to ask each of us, “What important decisions have been made in the last year to love life and see good days? How have we decided to spread good instead of evil? How have we helped ourselves and others to seek peace and pursue it?” How would we answer?

The most important decision we can make is to know Jesus Christ and to have a reationship with him that brings glory to Him. When we make that decision, then we will want to do as much good as we can for Him and for others.

This new year presents an unwritten page in our book of time. We can fill the page with unfulfilled decisions, or we can fill it with important decisions made and fulfilled. The decision to seize the opportunity to practice all the good we can for all the people we can for as long as we can is the most important decision.