I heard about a school that faced a problem. It seemed that a number of girls were going into the bathrooms and putting on their lipstick. After they put it on their lips, they pressed their lips to the mirrors leaving dozens of little lip prints. As you can imagine it was a nightmare for the cleaners.
Finally, the headteacher decided something had to be done. She called the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the cleaner.
She explained that the lip prints caused a major problem for the cleaner, who had to clean the mirrors every day. To demonstrate how difficult it was, she asked the cleaner to clean one of the mirrors. As the girls watched, the cleaner took out a long-handled brush, dipped it into the toilet, and scrubbed the mirror. That little demonstration had amazing results. Since then there have been no lip prints on any of the mirrors in that school.
We all make choices which ultimately end up with change but between the two there is often that little word chance.
Sometimes we need to take a chance but often as we find in Genesis 3, Adam and Eve made a choice that would ultimately change the whole world forever. They took a chance that God would not do as He said and they paid the price by changing their relationship with God forever. They had a daily routine of God coming to Adam. They would know when God was coming but now instead of relationship they were running and hiding.
We have to make sure that when we face the choice between right and wrong in our life we make the right decision because the decisions we make today will affect our tomorrow.
In these different times, we have a choice to abide by the rules for Covid19 or make the decision to take a chance regarding not taking the rules on board.
I was astounded to hear someone say this virus was a hoax. Many have made a choice not to believe the Holocaust ever took place and that of course changes the way they think and behave.
Followers of Jesus must always bear in mind choices, chancers and changes.
That is why James has something to say
Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, “God is trying to trip me up.” God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us.
James 1:13 – the Message
James is saying that we have no one to blame but ourselves. In the opening story, the girls never again made that choice with the lipstick. The chance they knew after seeing how the cleaner cleaned the mirror with the toilet brush was enough to change.
James points out that there is a process in the way we fall into sin. The process begins with a routine desire. Adam and Eve had a desire. They made a choice from that desire as we all do.
James says that is not what God wants for us at all. As a matter of fact, God always has our best interest at heart when he tells us how to live. He does not hold back, but He consistently longs to give us what is best for us.
This passage is full of choices, isn’t it? First James points out the choices we make. If we choose to nurture our desires until they lead us away, then the result is that they will carry us away to death.
But there is reason to choose differently. We can choose to disregard Satan’s whisper. We can choose not to be drawn away from God by remembering the choice that God made on our behalf. When we sinned, God could have left us separated from Him. However, instead of leaving us to suffer the consequences of our sin, He made a choice to forgive. He did that by sending Jesus to die for us. Yes, Jesus made the choice. Will you take the chance and find real change in your life?
Finally, on Sunday morning I had a desire to take off my mask, and I had a choice to give in to that desire or not, my decision gladly was I chose not to be tempted to take it off but abide by the rules.
We are living in different days to which our pleasure of doing things has been changed and we must adapt. May I urge you not to do as Adam and Eve did, but to think about the choices you are making? Let us not do chance, which leads to unwanted change but remain within the rules.
Stay safe and Blessed.