Choices

So after our main service at church yesterday, we had a little Bible study that one of the men put together. I thought I'd share it with you. 
It was based off Luke 18:18-23 which reads, 

And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal

life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

We discussed a lot of things about this passage, but I'm only going to share a few things and maybe it will leave you with a little bit to think about. Obviously, the rich young ruler kept on living his life the way he had before and didn't get rid of his possessions. But what if he had? How would the outcome be different? So what we did was take our whiteboard and divide it into two sections--"Temporal" and "Eternal." We then discussed what came/would've come out of each decision. If you look at the left side of the picture, you'll see a few of the things the rich young ruler obtained by not getting rid of all the things he owned. He would've lived securely on earth because he always had enough money, the praise of men, status among his community and peers, pleasures, and comforts...at least for the present. However, if he took his eyes off the here and now and looked toward eternity he would lack peace and be disappointed that he didn't listen to Jesus.

Now take a look at the other side of the photo. If you look at everything he would obtain if he had chosen to give up his riches for the glory of God, the young ruler would probably have been a very happy and joyful man. He would've had peace, security (both here and during eternity), joy, fulfillment, the fruits of the Spirit, some praise of men and status (but more importantly, he would have God's praise), blessings, provision of needs, comfort, crowns in heaven, a rewarding life, etc. Sound pleasant? I think so.

If you look at the very top of the whiteboard in the picture you'll notice the word "choices." The rich young ruler had a choice. Was he going to give up his riches and live for Jesus or was he going to keep them and live for himself? What do you think he should've chosen? To give up his riches and live for Jesus? Good choice. Seems so obvious, doesn't it? It's totally the better choice. Right...but...it's easy to see that when you step back and analyze both options. We may think that the rich young ruler was stupid and foolish to make the decision he did. However, if we were in his place, we probably would've made the same mistake. You see, we face choices like this every day. I know that I often choose the side that allows for temporary pleasure. It's easy to follow your flesh when it's what you can feel and what you can see. The eternal and spiritual can feel so far away. It's not tangible and is harder to consider when you make a decision...at least for me. It's so easy to just look at the here and now instead of forever. It's like putting your hand up near your face and concentrating on that instead of looking at everything that's all around you. 

I'm just here to share this with you and challenge you to take a step back and consider everything. The next time you have to make a choice, even if it is a little one, think about what you will gain if you decide to choose the path that give you temporary enjoyment versus the one that will give you eternal fulfillment. :)