Whenever I give my grandson, Tristan, a choice about something, he will sometimes say, using the language of a nine-year-old, “Pa Pa, it decides on you.” That is his way of saying I can determine what course we are going to follow. Does that not really describe life for all of us? We all choose which course of life we are going to follow. In Genesis One, we are told that God created us in His image and likeness. That means, at least in part, that we have been created with a free will. So then, as we go through life, we determine how we are going to live our lives. We, then, must decide exactly what we want to get out of this life and what kind of people we want be. As Tristan says, “it decides on you.”

So, what do you want? Do you want to go to heaven, or do you want to spend eternity in hell? It is really up to you. If going to heaven is what you want, you can make that happen because God, by His grace and mercy, has given you all the tools you need to do it. Yes, you have made some mistakes, that is, you have sinned before God. However, that does not have to stop you from going to heaven. God has given you, and the rest of the world, His Son as a propitiation for your sins. Now, what are you going to do with Jesus? If you are not a Christian and you want to go to heaven, you must accept Jesus as the Lord of your life by obeying the gospel. You, as Jesus once said, must believe and be baptized (Mark 16:16). It is in baptism that your sins are forgiven (Acts 2:38). God sacrificed His one and only Son so that you could be saved (John 3:16), but the rest is up to you. So, what do you really want? Do you want to go to heaven? Remember, to choose not to go to heaven, is to choose hell, a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth and unquench-able fire, in other words, a place of misery and pain (Matthew 13:42; Mark 9:43). So, what do you want? Where do you want to spend eternity? “It decides on you.”

What kind of citizen are you in the kingdom of God? It all depends on what kind of citizen you want to be. God has given you all the help you need. He has blessed all of us with all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). That means we can be as useful in the kingdom of God as we want to be. Do you want to be a useful member of the church? If so, then be one. It is as simple as that. Make up your mind to attend every service that your local church has. Make up your mind to participate in the scriptural programs that your local church has. If your church has personal work groups like we have here at Brown Street, be a member of one and be involved. Visit the shut-ins and send cards to the sick. We can all probably do better in some of these areas. I know I can. In
the end, though, it depends on each one of us to determine how active we are going to be. If you are going to be a good citizen in the kingdom of God, and really want to be of service to the Lord, “it decides on you.” What will your decision be?

What kind of spouse do you want to be? Are you a husband who loves his wife as Christ loves the church (Ephesians 5:25)? Are you a submissive wife (Ephesians 5:22)? As a spouse, do you demonstrate the kind of patience and kindness and other fruit of the Spirit toward your husband or wife that God expects? Having a solid marriage that is pleasing to God and joyful to both spouses is not extremely difficult if the proper foundation is laid. That foundation is built upon the word of God and applied because of a strong desire to please God first. However, the desire doesn’t just hap-pen. It must be the fixed purpose of a man to be a good husband consistently if he is to be what God wants him to be. Is that the kind of husband you are? Likewise, it takes a strong determination to be a loving wife that supports her husband in good and bad times alike. Is that the kind of wife you are? If you really want to be a good husband or a good wife, you don’t have to rely on the circumstances of life or other outside forces, that is, other than the help of God, to be one. In the end, it decides on you.

I think you get the point of this article. Some theological systems teach that we do not have the free will to determine what kind of people we are going to be, that is, not until God forces us to be a certain way by an outpouring of the Spirit that we cannot resist. That is nonsense. Remember, God created us in His image and after His likeness. He has created us as rational beings who can decide what kind of people we are going to be. Whether we are good parents, good employees, good spouses, good church members, good citizens in society and in the kingdom, is up to us. We can choose to be whatever we want to be because that is how God made us. We can also choose to be unfaithful to God, uncommitted to our families, or undisciplined members of society. We can be good or we can be bad, the only question is what do you really want to be? Apart from our Savior, Jesus Christ, we can do nothing (John 15:4-5), but even that, that is, abiding in Christ, is up to us. So, in the end, what kind of person you are decides on you.