The Most Important Choices

We make numerous choices every day, from what to order at the drive-through to what TV shows to watch to what music or podcasts to listen to. For the most part, those aren’t important choices. But then there are very important choices that we’ll make in life.

One choice we make every day is whether to start the day with the Word of God or with social media or something else. Are we going to start the day with prayer, or are we going to start it with worry? Are we going to make time in our schedules to meet with other believers or make other activities a priority instead?

Psalm 1 tells us, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night” (verses 1–2 NKJV).

The words “blessed” and “happy” are interchangeable. Basically, the Bible is saying that if we want to be happy, there are some things that we shouldn’t do, and there are other things that we should do instead.

Don’t walk in ungodly counsel, Psalm 1 tells us, and instead walk in godly counsel. In other words, meditate on (or think about or contemplate) the Word of God. This isn’t referring to the meditation of Eastern mysticism. Rather, to meditate on the Word of God means to ponder or contemplate what the Bible has to say.

The Bible tells us that Moses “chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:25 NLT). Moses made a choice not to live in the pleasures of sin but to instead identify with God’s people.

You make your choices, and your choices make you.