Choices

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in very natureGod, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Philippians 2:5-11

My 12 year old daughter recently purchased a book titled Coke or Pepsi? The book poses
all sorts of opinion questions that the girls are supposed to answer. For example, do you prefer to drink Coke or Pepsi? I suppose the idea is to get girls talking to each other, as if they need any help with that! Not to be outdone, my 10 year old son came home with a similar book for boys. It is titled Would You Rather…? Not surprisingly, the back of the book encourages the reader to “Challenge your friends with over 300 disgusting dilemmas!”


If someone were to write a book like this for moms, it would probably come closer to the
boy version. I’ll leave it to your imagination to come up with disgusting or difficult motherhood dilemmas. My personal list could go on for quite awhile.   Unfortunately, as moms, we have no choice but to deal with difficult dilemmas. When we became a mother, our selfish nature was forced into the backseat. When our children are babies we quickly realize that for every cute and cuddly Kodak moment, there are about 10 unpleasant moments. This ratio doesn’t change as they get older. Helping them make God-pleasing choices, or making these decisions for them, often involves a battle.


Thankfully, the biggest battle, the most difficult task to complete, has been done for
us. The price of our sins has been paid. God’s plan for our salvation put Christ on the road to
Calvary. Along the way he held unwaveringly to His Father’s plan. He battled with religious
leaders. He touched disgusting, diseased people. He encouraged his disciples to make the right
choices and reprimanded them when they didn’t. He spent his life surrounded by the unclean
and rejected of society and then suffered unimaginable pain and death. The easy way out was
never an option for him.


When we are faced with days of unpleasant choices, we need to remember our ultimate
goal. The reward at the end of our life is eternity with our savior. My daily prayer is for my
children to have this as their goal as well.


Dear Lord, please help us to focus on you. Too often we get caught up in self-pity. We listen
to a world that encourages us to reward ourselves in this life. You set the perfect example for us and then you took our punishment. Help our attitudes toward our daily tasks to reflect this
marvelous truth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.