“As For Me, I Will…”
(Below is the second of three parts of a writing assignment I had before graduation. I hope it is a blessing. The first part can be found under “Homeschooling”.)
“I’ll do it if you do it.” Have you ever been guilty of saying this? It’s so easy, at times, to be reluctant in making a decision that we know we should make. Too often, we first want to make sure that we are not alone in the decision before actually going through with it. Do you know what this says of a person’s life? James 1:8 says it this way, “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (So, in other words, absolutely no backbone at all.) We cannot live our lives like that. I understand that no one likes the feeling of being alone in something, but let’s face it. There will be plenty of times when we will have to make a tough decision and, like it or not, we will not have anybody to go along with us.
ATTN: TAKING A STAND FOR RIGHT REQUIRES COURAGE!
At some point in our life, what we must realize is this – just as someone cannot make decisions for us, we cannot make decisions for them. We are only responsible for our own decisions. Can we control another person’s choices? No. Only God has that power. Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.”
So, why fret over others and the paths they take when it is, in reality, “out of our hands”? Also, if we are not careful, we will even go to the extreme of using the decisions of others to justify our own – “Well, they’re not doing it; why should I?”… OR …”What’s he/she going to do?” In reading John 21, we find Peter doing this. After being told what was to become of him, Peter was solely concerned about John’s affairs, to which Jesus responded, “…If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.” In other words, “Peter, mind your own business. You worry about yourself.” Evidently, this is no small matter with God! He tells us in I Thessalonians 4:11, “…do your own business…” In order to truly live for God in this day and time, it entails taking a whole lot of stands. I like this quote I came across by Jonathan Edwards –
Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will.
Can we sincerely say, “While others may not, as for ME, I will“?
~ Bethany ~