October 6, 1999

EXPLORE THE BIBLE:
Holy choices change lives
in a minute for eternity
___ Leviticus 26-27
___By Mark Bumpus
___First Baptist Church, Mineral Wells
___In a doctoral seminar at Southwestern Seminary, professor Phil Briggs told us the following unpublished story. Two boys, brothers, began attending the Ridglea West Baptist Church in Fort Worth. The pastor, wanting to be responsible in follow-up, went to their house to visit. He was met at the door by a very domineering woman who told him, in no uncertain terms, "I do not want to see you ever set foot in my yard again!" So he left.
___Now, I can't tell you much about what happened to the older boy, but the younger boy? He climbed to the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas and allegedly assassinated John Kennedy! The church was that close to changing history, but was thwarted by the misguided choice of a mother.
___ Good choices (Leviticus 26:3-6a). As the Sunday School quarterly says, "God blesses his people spiritually and sometimes even materially." This is the result of godly choices. We are to keep God's word (26:3). When we do, we become like the man in Psalm 1 who is stable and spiritually prosperous (1:3).
___ Bad choices (Leviticus 26:14-16). Bad choices lead to a digression of behavior. For Israel, these bad choices against God's law progressed through seven downward stages: from disobedience (not listening), to inaction, to rejection, to abhorrence, to habitual rebellion, to breaking of vows, to rejection of corrective punishment. The faithful man in Psalm 1 refuses to involve himself in progressive degeneration. He "does not walk... nor stand... nor sit" with the disobedient (1:1). He does not place himself in a "slowing" posture of spiritual digression.
___Religious psychologist William James said, "The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken." Baptist theologian E.Y. Mullins wrote, "Thoughts become purposes, and purposes become acts, and acts become habits, and habits become characters, and characters become destinies." The elasticity of our soul becomes fixed and we cannot change. The danger of hardening your heart!
___ Humble confession (Leviticus 26:40-42). God wants to be forgiving and restorative, but the condition is sincere confession of sin. Forgiveness is available for the nation (2 Chronicles 7:14) and the individual (1 John 1:9).
___ Faithful choice (Leviticus 27:30-32). The tithe belongs to the Lord. It is to be given back to him. With the tithe, you choose to invest in an eternal cause (Matthew 6:20-21). What a return!
___Life is a series of choices. In a sermon on making right choices, Harry Emerson Fosdick said to submit your choices to the tests of: (1) common sense--Think! What will be required of me? (Luke 12:20-21); (2) sportsmanship--How will it affect others? (Matthew 7:12); (3) your best self--Is it an enlightened decision? (John 1:9); (4) publicity--What if everybody knew and it was written in your biography? (Matthew 10:26); (5) your most admired personality--What if the person you most respect knew? (Romans 2:16); (6) foresight--What is the logical outcome? (Proverbs 16:3); and (7) biblical reconciliation--Will I have to apologize? (Matthew 5:23-24)

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