Good evening. Tonight we are going to take a look at another episode of The Waltons. Tonight’s episode will be episode 20 of the 3rd season, and it is titled, The Choice.
Before we take a look at this episode, answer me one question: What are some of the hardest choices that you have had to make in your lifetime?
Well, at this time, we are going to go ahead and watch a little bit longer of a section than usual, but I think it will be okay. Tonight’s clip needs no introduction, and I believe that we pick up in a good place to be able to get the whole story of the episode.
So enjoy tonight’s show! (Play Movie Clip. Episode Twenty. Start at 5:25, and end at 41:15, after John- Boy talks about his novel.)
Before we get started in discussion, let’s begin with a word of prayer. Let’s Pray!
The college faculty were in their annual meeting when, suddenly, an angel appears. Turning to the Dean, the angel said, “I will grant you one of 3 choices: infinite wisdom, infinite wealth, or infinite health.” The Dean thought for a minute, then replied “Wisdom.”
“So be it.” and the angel disappeared. In the silence that followed, the Dean sat thoughtfully, saying nothing and staring off into the distance. Finally, one of the other faculty members exclaimed, “Do you have anything to say? What words of wisdom can you provide us?”
And the Dean replied, “I should have taken the money.”
Well, life has many choices. We choose our cars, our homes, our jobs, our classes. We choose to be good employees or poor employees. We choose to be good parents or bad parents. We choose to pay our bills or to allow the collector to come for them. Life is made up of choices.
Consider shopping. The average American supermarket carries around 36,000 items for sale. Crest offers 36 variations of its toothpaste in the choice of size, shape, and flavor. Revlon has 158 different colors of lipstick and there are 200 new magazines which hit the market each year, although the vast majority of those new editions will fail.
The choices we make today have an impact on the decisions we will be making tomorrow. They establish a pattern and a foundation for our life. We can make good choices in life which will lead to our success, and we can make bad choices which will lead to our demise. Making decisions today, as we saw in the movie will impact your future, as well as the future of others. So how do we make the right ones?
What where some of the choices that had to be made in tonight’s episode of The Waltons? (John- Boy – What to write, novel? Jason – Follow music or lumber with dad? Daddy – Make Jason stay, or let him go?)
In Proverbs chapter 2 we find that God gives wisdom out to those who search for it. The writer then goes on to point out something interesting in verses 9-12. Listen to this: Proverbs 2:9-12 says, “1”
This is talking about the importance of wisdom when it comes to making choices in your life. Now, as we continue this evening, I want to suggest 4 questions you should ask when making life choices which will keep you on the right path and off the road to destruction.
First, Is The Choice In Agreement With God’s Word?
Why do you think that is so important?
Well, to answer this, you first of all need to know God’s Word. Are you in a devotional study? Are you reading through the Bible with us on Wednesday evenings if you are able to? What plan do you have to get God’s word in your life?
Reading the Bible, mediating on the writings will enable you to know right choices from wrong. The Bible never changes. Man’s interpretations have at times twisted it from the original context but the Bible is resilient, it springs back to its true form for those who are earnestly seeking truth.
An important choice we make in life is who are we going to follow? Joshua came to a place before the people in Joshua 24:15 where he said, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
We can simplify this by saying we really have only 2 choices when it is all boiled down. We serve God or we serve the world. The problem with serving the world is the options change on a constant basis. What is right today may be wrong tomorrow and visa versa. With God, the word never changes. God is not on a mission to make you miserable by changing the choices. If we followed His word as it is written, we would find eternal benefits. And what does the world have to offer in a money back guarantee? So the first thing you need to know before making choices in life is, “Is this choice in agreement with God’s word? Another way to know if you are making a positive choice or a damaging choice is to answer this question:
Would I Want Everyone To Know About My Choice?
Wrongly made choices, ill advised decisions are usually kept in secret. It is an issue of living a life and making decisions of integrity. It’s easy to cut corners, to shade the truth, to walk the tightrope of life, but when you do, it is not something you want everyone else to know about. A serial killer in Spokane was arrested and his wife and children were shocked by the facts of the arrest. Wrong choices are done in secret, you don’t come home and tell everyone at the dinner table, “By the way, last night I killed my 20th woman.”
Proverbs 10:9 says, “The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.” Sometimes it is a no brainer if it is a right choice or a wrong choice. Romans 14:14 is the whole idea that if it is a sin to you, then it is a sin. If someone believes something is wrong, then they shouldn’t do it because for that person it is wrong. So, if you would not want anyone to know what you chose, you shouldn’t make that decision.
Thirdly, Ask: By Making This Choice, Will It Help Me Be A Better Person?
That was the whole idea of the choices that were made in the episode. By going to music school, would that make Jason a better person? Letting Jason go defiantly made the dad a better person. And completing a novel, made John –Boy a better person.
Probably most of the choices we have to make in life is not between good and evil, but between better or best. When I stand in front of the cereal aisle, overcome with choices of cereals, most of which are good, I need to make a choice of what is best for me, and what is best for me may not be best for you in that area. What was best for Jason was to go off and learn more about music. What would have been best for daddy would have been for Jason to stay and help at the mill.
If you are suffering from diabetes, sugar coated mini-wheats, one of my favorites, would not be your best choice. Don’t you want to make the best choices in your life? I sure do. I want to be a better person, and some choices can help me accomplish that goal.
So why not do what is best. Paul wrote in I Corinthians 10:23 “Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial.” So we need to make sure that we are making decisions that will make us a better person. We need to ask that big question, will I find improvement in my choices? Then we need to ask:
Finally, Will My Choice Harm Anyone Else?
Our society is self seeking. The prime question self-seekers ask is “What’s in it for me?” For those of us who are trying to live our lives according to the life and example of Jesus Christ, we understand how important it is to think of others and the impact our choices might have on them. How will my decision affect my family, relatives, friends, and total strangers? Paul said in Romans 14:12-13, “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.” It comes down to this: will my decisions hurt anyone around me?
In 1958 a small Pennsylvania town opened its new city hall which housed their police and fire department as well as city government. Within two months, cracks began to appear in the bricks and sometime later, windows wouldn’t close all the way. Next it was doors and eventually the floor shifted leaving ugly gaps in the floor covering and the corners. Then the roof began to leak and within a few months the building had to be abandoned much to the embarrassment of the builder and the disgust of the taxpayers.
They brought in a firm to do an analysis and found the culprit to be a nearby mining concern which was slowly but effectively damaging the building with their blasts. It seems beneath the foundation there were small shifts and changes taking place in the soil which caused the whole foundation to crack. It was not something you could see or feel from the surface, but none the less, it was weakening the building. Ultimately it had to be demolished.
You see, the small decisions that we make, can have a devastating effect on others. So we need to make sure that we make good decisions that don’t harm anyone else.
Now, I know that there wasn’t a lot of discussion here tonight, but does anyone have anything that they would like to add before we close this evening?
Well, as we close this evening, let me end with this: it is a good idea to seek out other people’s advice when making decisions, but you to have to do what is best for you. Sometimes you will have to take a stand and go against the crowd. Just make sure that the choices you make in life, go along with the will of God as well.
Let’s Pray! |
