Making Decisions

 

What does it take to get your goat? Have you ever wondered where that expression comes from? It has to do with our anger, with becoming upset with someone. It’s amazing to observe the lengths at which the progressive left is willing to go, pushing the buttons of the conservative capitalist, in hopes that one of them will come unglued and do something really stupid in retaliation. How much can you take, before you take some kind of action?

Peter asked this question, in a sense, when he asked Jesus, “How long must I take offence from my brother before I can punch his lights out?” (Matthew 18:21). Peter wanted a number from which he could count down to action. Being offended is a matter of choice, as are many other things in life; it is a decision we make. What offends one may not offend another. I have to decide to be angry with someone. Because I believe someone to be wrong, that they are acting improperly, that they hold to beliefs that are contrary to Bible teaching, must I be angry with them? Should I hate them? Should I slander their name? When I become evil to respond to evil – have I not become evil myself?

[Hebrews 4:11-13] Omniscience, knowing all things, is something the Bible attributes only to God. Since the Bible says that all things that exist were created by God (Colossians 1:16-17), it follows that Satan is a created being. God cannot sin or cause to sin, so it is implied that Satan was created good and chose to do evil. Many have defined evil as the absence or opposite of good. Throughout the whole Bible, Satan is depicted as one who tempts man to sin. If Satan is not omniscient and cannot tell what we are thinking, how does he know how to operate in our individual lives? Matthew, chapter 4, proves he knows the Bible, and the Bible tells us the three major avenues of sin (1 John 2:15-17). He has had the advantage of thousands of years of observation of human behavior. He knows mankind’s basic weaknesses. He also has angels (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 12:9) and knows what role they play in having his privy to our personal lives, and in observing our lives, and in observing what each of us is prone to do or not do.

Yet, Satan does not ever make us sin, despite what Flip Wilson used to say, “The devil made me do it!” We choose to sin based on our own fleshly desires (James 1:12-15). We sin, not as the result of Satan manipulating the mind, but as the result of giving into sinful lusts. Satan can no more make us do wrong than God will make us do right. We should simply remember that we never have to sin (1 Corinthians 10:12-13). Satan does not whisper in our ear or play with our mind. However, he is actively seeking souls to devour (1 Peter 5:8). The good news is that he cannot do anything unless we allow him into our life. James says we can make him flee from us by resisting him (James 4:7). Satan cannot read your mind! He cannot manipulate your mind! He can only see and use what you reveal to him. Let us be careful to reveal the right sorts of things and thereby protect ourselves from this roaring lion. Decisions define who we are and who’s we are.

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be Kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway. If you find serenity in happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may just not be enough; Give the best you have anyway. In the final analysis, it’s all between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway! God will guide you.