Making Right Choices

Have you watched a movie on TV lately? If you’re like Lori and me, it’s hard to cobble together a couple of hours to watch one, and when you do, you want to make sure it’s a good one! So when we have time to watch a movie, we scroll the endless streaming options. Some of you may actually remember taking a ride to Blockbuster to rent a movie; but that seems like a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

We always have such a hard time deciding what to watch because there are so many movies to choose from and we don’t want to make a poor choice; so more than half the time, we end up giving up and watching a couple reruns of The Office before nodding off. We’re far too old to stay up much past 10:00 anyway!

I think it would be easier to decide which movie to watch if we just had a couple of options… maybe like Equalizer 3 or The Barbie Movie? Which one do think Lori and I would choose? That one is a no brainer…

Recently, Lori and I had to make a decision about what color to paint our front door. That choice used to be literally black and white, sometimes off-white, but not anymore. Now the color of your front door is a statement! In fact, it is a value statement because I’m told some colors add value to your home, while others actually deduct value. But how do you decide on a color? We like green, but do you know how many shades of green there are to choose from?! We had to narrow all those options to two choices so we could choose one.

Decision making can be hard. And to make those decisions far easier, narrowing the many options to just two choices really helps. Jesus knew that about us, so as He moved to the conclusion of His Sermon on the Mount, He offered four pairs of choices for us to consider. And making the right choice with these is far more important than what movie to watch or what color to paint the front door!

Some decisions in life really matter, and none matter more that the choices Jesus presents us with in Matthew 7:13-14. As He moves to the decision portion of His Sermon, Jesus gives us four pairs of choices… Two Roads - Broad or Narrow? Two Gates - Wide or Small? Two Destinations - Destruction or Life? Two Crowds - Many or Few?

13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14.

The choices Jesus outlines for us in this text are of eternal significance, so we must get them right! This is one sermon that everyone needs to hear. For much more, please click here to listen to: Sermon on the Mount - Part 13 .