Choices!


 Choices. We make thousands every single day from the time we wake to the time we fall into our beds at night. What will I wear? Which pair of shoes looks best? Shave? Bathe? Casual or pjs? What’s for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and more importantly dessert? The list is endless and exhausting. 


Even on holidays or vacations there are so many decisions to be made. What gifts should I buy or should I make it? How many gifts do we need to get? Who’s making the holiday feast? Who is bringing what, where, and when? We make our lists and check them twice!


In today’s verse there are three things on the list: rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances! They have one thing in common. They are all choices. Great! Just what we needed in our jam-packed schedules and lists. More choices to make. 


You see, these things don’t happen automatically. You don’t wake up one day and all of a sudden you are doing these things. Each day along with a million other choices you have to decide that you are going to joyful, pray, and give thanks. 


We all have what are known as pre-determined responses. In the military the idea is to already have a plan in place regardless of what actions your enemy takes. In other words some decisions were made well in advance of the battle. One idea is that when you respond you do so in such a manner that it is overwhelming to the enemy and they are then unable to respond. 


Today you can make a firm decision on how you will respond to whatever happens today. A pre-determined response. Today I’m going to choose to be joyful. I’m going to choose to pray. I’m going to choose to give thanks for everything I already have and am blessed with. I choose joy. I choose prayer. I choose to give thanks.

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