Day 51 – 90 Days in Proverbs - Good Choices

Proverbs 10:1 [NKJV] … A wise son makes a glad father, But a foolish son [is] the grief of his mother.

As a mother, I have experienced grief when my children made unwise choices – especially when those choices resulted in harm to them, whether that harm was physical, emotional or financial. As mothers, we want our children to make wise choices so that they can be healthy, live well, have good relationships and so that they can prosper.

God is no less of a loving parent. He wants to spare us the harm that can come from bad choices and His heart is heavy when we break His law and make unwise choices.

Consider what the nation of Israel put Him through. Time and again, He taught them, loved them, blessed them, only to have them turn to idol worship, Sabbath breaking, and more. He would punish them. They would repent. He would restore and bless them. They’d get prosperous and then go back to the same bad behaviors that got them into trouble in the first place. Unfortunately, God and Israel went through many such cycles.

I don’t want to cause God grief and pain. He teaches me by His word. He leads and guides me by His Holy Spirit. He has provided preachers, teachers and mentors in human form to help me along the way.

But I can still sometimes struggle to make those wise choices that bring my Father joy. If I sin and make an unwise choice, even though that brinsg Him heaviness and pain, He is always ready to help me back to Him.

Of course, the better course is to walk the straight and narrow. Matthew 7:13 [NKJV] Enter by the narrow gate; for wide [is] the gate and broad [is] the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. That way I won’t be like Israel of old, continuing a destructive cycle of bad choices.

As a parent, we rejoice when our children do well and make good choices. We spend our parenting years trying to help them to do so. God works with us, through the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit, to guide us to make those good choices.

My younger sister told me that when she would drop her girls off at school each day the last thing she would say to them as they got out of the car each was “make good choices.”

God, the Father, is calling out the same to you and me, sweet sisters. So, let’s go out today and make good choices, thereby bringing us good results and giving the Father joy.

Prayer — Father God, I know it brings you grief and pain when I make bad choices and that the good choices I make bring You great joy. Please forgive me for the bad choices and help me today to make good choices in every decision I make. Following in the steps of Jesus, the Son in whom You are well pleased, help me to make You proud today. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen

Your thoughts —  

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