Pop Tarts or Eggs and Bacon? (October 22, 2012)

…Opening To…

Decision is a risk rooted in the courage of being free. (Paul Tillich, Theologian)

…Listening In…

“What do you think? A man had two sons. Now he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ “‘No, I don’t want to,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went. “The father said the same thing to the other son, who replied, ‘Yes, sir.’ But he didn’t go. “Which one of these two did his father’s will?” (Matthew 21:28-31; context)

…Filling Up…

Each of us makes hundreds of decisions every day. From the decision to hit snooze or get up to the decision to play five more minutes of that video game or go to bed, our days are just chock full of decisions. Most of them are so small that we don’t even notice that we’ve made them. We put very little conscious thought into these little decisions, but the trouble is that they add up over time and before we know it they can change the courses of our lives.

Then there are the big decisions that get all the press. This week, we are going to talk about decision-making, both small and great. We are going to talk about how we can invite God into the process of making decisions through daily prayer, through reading the Bible, and through various other methods.

But first, I’m going to ask you to read the following list of potential small and large decisions. Mentally check off which ones you’ve made – say, in the last week. Also note which you consider small and which you consider large. I’m going to write this list for someone who is in high school, so if you’re not, perhaps you’ll consider making your own list of decisions (which I’m going to have you do later in the week anyway). Okay, here we go:

Snooze for ten more minutes or get up (repeat as needed); eat breakfast or not; pop tarts or eggs and bacon; wear the light jacket or stick with just the sweater; take the bus or drive with a friend; go to your locker before home room or wait until after; stand up to the kid getting picked on or not; goof off in class or pay attention; eat the mystery meat at lunch or not; sneak a glance at your neighbor’s quiz or struggle through without cheating; say hi to your crush or keep on walking down the hall; wear your shin guards at soccer practice or not; do your homework now or wait until after dinner; eat your broccoli or fight with your mom; text your friend back or ignore her; download the new Taylor Swift single or wait for the album; play five more minutes of the video game or go to bed.

And that’s only a small sample. So where is God in the process of making all of these decisions? That’s what we’re going to talk about this week.

…Praying For…

Dear God, thank you for giving me the freedom to make my own choices. Help me to choose only those things that align with your yearnings for me. In Jesus Christ’s name I pray. Amen.