Simply Making the Right Choices

It’s interesting to note that in the general sense there’s a godly order to this world. This order is suggested in the Wisdom literature, and certainly that contained within the Bible. Secular life is not that different from the spiritual--there’s a cause and effect nature that goes on, particularly in response to the acts of people.

For example, self-serving needs are seen for what they are. The secular world sees this behaviour dubiously and people detract and separate themselves from this instinctively. It’s just not that endearing.

I found a section of Psalm 119 that speaks of the psalmist’s love of good and hate of evil. Even though this is at the extreme end regarding absolute faithfulness to God, it dovetails somewhat with our experience of evil in everyday life.

Verse 118 says, “You reject all who stray from your decrees, for their delusions come to nothing.” (TNIV) I have found that the self-serving person, particularly someone in leadership, or with power, carries with them a sense of the deluded. They’ve been deceived, having fallen for their own lies in many cases. Natural justice might determine their end we might suppose.

In this section, from verses 113-120, the psalmist sees and delights in the active working of God’s law for righteousness and against wickedness. “The fire that cleanses gold, consumes dross.”[1] So, in this, there’s the logical working of the law for the purposes of good and against evil.

God’s action, in how he uses people and situations for his righteous ends, is clinical. There’s not even any use fighting it; throughout the history of the world, this has been seen time and again.

And this is the reason for our faith: that we might believe unceasingly that this is a general rule which works roughly every time. And our approach to those who might seek to twist things toward their own advantage should be a lesson for us. We’d do that to our eventual peril.

The key reason to come to maturity in life is to approach, and become reconciled to, morality. We must become good at discerning and obeying God’s moral laws. If we cannot understand and accept God’s moral code we cannot succeed in life, period.

The more wholeheartedly we can distance our selfish selves from actually getting what we want in life the closer we might actually get in achieving them.

We must reconcile ourselves to making choices devoid of personal interest, for that is personal freedom.

Copyright © 2009, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved.

[1] W. Graham Scroggie, A Guide to the Psalms – Volume 3 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications, 1995), p. 184.