Devotions from Psalms Series: Life’s Best Choices

Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. ~Psalm 37:3 NLT

If I made the wrong choice, I’d have to fast the remainder of the day. But whoever said life’s best choices would be easy?

My wife and I once began a popular weight loss program. I had never tried it before, but it was a diet I could live with. The diet gave me the freedom to eat anything I wanted. All foods were assigned a certain number of points, and I was assigned a point limit based on my height and weight.

Eating whatever I wanted appealed to me. But the kicker was that my choices had consequences. If I chose to visit a fast food restaurant for lunch and supersize my meal, I would likely not enjoy the rest of my day. I might even have to fast. On the other hand, if I spread my points out evenly throughout the day, I could enjoy eating many things I wanted without exceeding my limit. I would even have enough left over to enjoy a bedtime snack.

The diet seemed to work. I enjoyed eating—something I had not done on other diets. Additionally, I lost weight.

The psalmist also gives a choice. Actually, two. Trust God and do good. If we do, good consequences will follow. We’ll prosper spiritually—and perhaps in other ways, too.

The two imperatives from the writer are similar to the two greatest commands Jesus gave: love God with our heart, soul, and mind, and love others as we love ourselves. Making these two choices may appear easy on the surface, but they are challenging to put into practice due to our dual nature.

We were born with a sinful nature. When we trust Christ, he gives us a new nature. Even though we have a new nature, we still remember what life was like when we lived it according to the fleshly nature. Now we have a battle raging, which makes making the best choices in life all the more challenging. If we feed the fleshly nature, we’ll make poor and perhaps sinful choices. But if we feed the new nature, we’ll make the best choices. The choice is ours.

But life doesn’t have to be a losing battle. When we nourish our new nature with spiritual activities, when we walk by faith, and when we trust Christ for the strength to do both, we will come out on the winning end.

Don’t lead a defeated life because of poor choices. Let God lead you to make the best choices.
Father, thank you for giving me the ability to make the best choices in life—choices that will lead me closer to you and others.

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Martin Wiles

Martin Wiles lives in Greenwood, SC, and is the founder of Love Lines from God. He is a freelance editor, English teacher, pastor, and author. He serves as Managing Editor for both Christian Devotions and Vinewords.net and is an instructor for the Christian PEN (professional editor’s network). Wiles is a multi-published author. His most recent book, Hurt, Hope and Healing: 52 Devotions That Will Lead to Spiritual Health, is available on Amazon. He and his wife are parents of two and grandparents of seven. He can be contacted at [email protected].

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