Options

This word by definition means choices. In football it means that the ball carrier has the “option” to run, pass, hand off or lateral. For everyday people like me, I have lots of options every day. There are some things on my schedule that are not “options”, but others most certainly are. Each day I’m faced with good options and not so good options. I must look at all the angles and decide which option is best given the information I have.

Obeying the Lord is an option that I have. I chose the option to follow Him many years ago and I’m still choosing that option even today. He will lead me if I choose the option to follow Him. He will direct my path and guard my steps if I choose the option to follow. King Zedekiah had the option to follow the Lord and live during the takeover by Babylon. The Lord gave the king an option of life with obedience. Check this out….

2 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Go to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down. 3 You will not escape from his grasp but will surely be captured and given into his hands. You will see the king of Babylon with your own eyes, and he will speak with you face to face. And you will go to Babylon.

4 “‘Yet hear the Lord’s promise to you, Zedekiah king of Judah. This is what the Lord says concerning you: You will not die by the sword; 5 you will die peacefully. As people made a funeral fire in honor of your predecessors, the kings who ruled before you, so they will make a fire in your honor and lament, “Alas, master!” I myself make this promise, declares the Lord.’” (Jeremiah 34:2-5 NIV)

When the Lord makes a promise – He keeps it. His promise to the king is contingent upon the king obeying the Lord’s directions and instructions during this transition. The Lord had formulated a plan to clean up His people. The “clean up” process involved captivity in Babylon. The option was the “easy way” or the “hard way”. Both options were hard, but the outcome was less hard with the preferred choice offered by the Lord.

Today I want to do my homework and choose the option of following after the Lord. I want to ALWAYS choose the option that He directs me too. This option may not be the most popular or glamorous, but I choose it because He directs my path.

My options are pretty simple when I “drill it down”: Option #1 – Trust & Follow the Lord; Option#2 – Follow my own way. This isn’t “rocket science”, but it is life and it gets messy and complicated at times. The Lord’s option is always available – I need to see His face for instruction.

Pressing On!

Dwayne