A Crucial Choice.

Psa 36:1 The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.


No fear of God.
The wicked do not fear God.


We've spoken of this before- that there are only two crucial, life altering choices we ever face in life. All our less crucial choices from then are shaped by those two crucial choices. Every day we wake up and we have to choose from one of those crucial choices. Every night before we go to sleep we make that crucial choice. Some of you might be truly confused right now and that's understandable. People often like to believe that once they make that first crucial choice then there is no need to make it ever again, but this choice is so incredibly crucial to our lives that it has to be made every day, twice a day, maybe more- especially if we use that choice to define all other choices in our lives. When we neglect to choose, that is consciously choose, knowingly making the choice every day then we set ourselves up to take the default choice and that default choice has the potential for becoming a choice we would not consciously wish to make.


The crucial choice to make is between - eternal life or eternal death and yes, it is a choice we make every day. Our lives are defined by the days we live, and what we choose on those days. Our history is a culmination of the choices we've made throughout our lives, throughout the number of days we've existed. Each day brings with it an opportunity to choose to live eternally or face eternal death. Unfortunately the majority of people don't realize or rather don't WANT to realize that this is a daily choice. All people will have a chance to make this choice at least once, but most people have the choice presented to them more than once. All too often however after making the choice for eternal death by not accepting eternal life in Jesus Christ, people choose to allow themselves to become blind to future choice making and grow oblivious to the opportunities to change their mind. People don't comprehend the need of choosing, and are left to the default choice. The choice of not actively seeking Jesus. The choice of not praying daily for that daily Bread.


Does everyone pray every day? Do you? Is daily prayer necessary? According to Jesus it is.


When teaching His Apostles the prayer to base all their prayers upon, Jesus spoke these words-


Mat 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.


Give us THIS day our daily bread. Give us day by day our daily bread. A daily need of our Savior, our spiritual sustenance.


And so yes, we make this choice daily- knowingly and unknowingly. You hear all the time that silence is a form of acquiescing. If you remain silent you are accountable for your silence. We are accountable whether or not we are actively choosing. I'm positive all wicked people do not wake up and announce to themselves that they are choosing to be wicked that day. Yet they remain wicked unless they make the choice to have Christ as their Savior, asking forgiveness from Him for all their sins, repenting deeply of all they've done.


God's chosen people were given an example of keeping God continually before them- burnt offerings to the Lord were to be made every morning and evening.


1Ch 16:40 To offer burnt offerings unto the LORD upon the altar of the burnt offering continually morning and evening, and to do according to all that is written in the law of the LORD, which he commanded Israel;.


If God's people chose to ignore a morning offering would they have been following God's will? No. They would not have been choosing to follow God when making that decision.


After Christ died and rose, doing away with the need for the sacrificial law He instituted a life of prayer and supplication.


Mar 11:25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.


How was forgiveness to be received? Through prayer. And during that prayer- forgiving others.


Psa 51:16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.


God required sacrifices from His people, God required that His people be in a perpetual state of understanding their need of Him to forgive their breaking of the covenant. God taught His chosen people they were dependent upon Him for their lives in Him. God promised that eventually all sacrifice would be done away with through a Messiah- a Savior, and that Savior came. Our Savior, the Innocent Lamb was sacrificed for us as the ultimate, perfect Sacrifice doing away with the need for the sacrificial ceremonial law.


The thing we need to remember here though is that Jesus Christ did NOT do away with our daily, continual need of God in our lives.


Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.


Luk 18:1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
Luk 18:2 Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
Luk 18:3 And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
Luk 18:4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
Luk 18:5 Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
Luk 18:6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
Luk 18:7 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
Luk 18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?


Continual prayer. Cry day and night unto God. A constant understand that we are dependent upon God for all things, for our lives now and eternally.


We must DAILY choose Christ! We must choose daily and it's a crucial choice we make. When we choose to follow Christ all the other choices we are called to make in our day should be based on the choice of being a follower of our Savior! Too many don't choose at all, too many choose not to follow Christ, too many choose to not even believe He exists, all to their eternal end.


Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.


Psa 36:1 The transgression of the wicked, saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.


The wicked have no fear of God before them.
The wicked choose not to believe in God.
The wicked...


Psa 36:2 For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful.
Psa 36:3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.
Psa 36:4 He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.


The wicked flatters himself in his own eyes- SO TRUE! So many people are cocky in their own belief of superiority. So many wicked applaud themselves for being too smart to believe in God, too intelligent to be fooled into believing in the unseen, too amazingly bright to get caught up in anything that actually calls for faith.


The wicked speak sinful things, deceitful things, and the wicked are NOT wise in abandoning God and believing only in themselves.


The wicked bring on their own destruction.


The wicked choose to accept evil. The wicked even call evil good.


Isa 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!


Without any fear of God in them, a person chooses eternal death.


God is merciful!


Psa 36:5 Thy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
Psa 36:6 Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.
Psa 36:7 How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
Psa 36:8 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.
Psa 36:9 For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.
Psa 36:10 O continue thy lovingkindness unto them that know thee; and thy righteousness to the upright in heart.
Psa 36:11 Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me.
Psa 36:12 There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.



Praise God! All glory to God!


We talk about wanting to understand what everything is all about, what the meaning of life is and I'll tell you- it's to live and the only way we live is in Christ, through Christ's righteousness, through Christ's forgiveness, by Christ's mercy and grace!


We have two crucial choices to choose from- life or death, God or self, make no mistake it is our choice to make and no one else's.


By the amazing love of our God may we choose Him always and not be accounted among the wicked- fallen, cast down, never able to rise again.


Al praise and thanksgiving, all honor and glory to our Creator, Savior, King, to our Heavenly Father, to the Holy Spirit!


Amen.