August 31, 2024 - Decisions

      I was faced with a decision early this morning.  We are faced with choices multiple times each day.
      I got up early to do some things in preparation for a counseling that I had at our house later in the morning.  Teresa has been watching Megan and Bryan’s three little angels for the last three days, so I wanted to make sure I had the house in order before the couple came.  There are some things you learn as a husband after 40 years of marriage.
      Knowing that my days in the pool are limited because fall is just around the corner, I headed to the pool.  It was on the way to the pool that I was confronted with the decision.
      I could see the lake.  It was like a piece of glass, kind of what I think the crystal lake will look like in heaven.  Not a leaf was rustling in the trees.  It was overcast with the forecast of a front moving through today.  All of it promised that the fishing could be good.  And fishing is something that I have done far too little this summer.
      I took a deep breath, opened the small door, and slipped into the pool.  Fishing may have to wait until the weather cools.
      This decision wasn’t life changing or earth shattering.  Life wasn’t going to change a great deal either way.  One less day in the pool wouldn’t likely affect my blood pressure or heart rate.
      Part of the underlying issue was that I had made the commitment to swim every day possible.  The early morning weather reports were that storms could come later in the afternoon. I also don’t swim when the sun is overhead. 
      As I was swimming I wrote part of this blog in my head.  I was faced with a decision with two possibilities.  Both were good things.  Swimming is a good thing, as is fishing—at least for some of us!
      In this case, I made a better decision to swim, realizing the circumstances.
      Those are often the decisions that confront us every day.  Do I choose a good thing, or do I choose the better thing?  Neither choice would have been a sin, which is often the case with some of the choices before us.
      The writer to the Hebrews says to lay aside two things as we seek to run the race—weights and sins.  Often there are some really good things that end up being weights because they are in the wrong priority in our lives.
      Having the willingness to choose the better, rather than the good, can impact our lives.
I tend to be an “all in” kind of guy.  Moderation has never been in my psyche, nor is it Biblical.  “Moderation in all things” is a lie of the enemy. 
      When it comes to being on a diet, I am all in or all out.  After last Saturday’s blog, I walked into the worship center last Sunday morning and a loving Daybreaker had placed a pack of “Nutter Butters” on the pulpit, the king or share size, of course. 
      I appreciated the loving gesture and that at least one person had read the blog.   I sat the cookies on a shelf. I plan to take them to Mayo to eat on the way home—after I weigh in there.
      Lord, help me not settle for the good thing, when You may have a better way for me.  Going the easier way or the more pleasurable route isn’t always Your plan for me.  Help me to discern Your will, even in the small decisions that I face each day.