Making Good Choices

Introduction

Always here, and that’s good. But it still was a choice that you made to be here, and you’re to be commended for that. In fact, life is a series of choices, is it not? We would probably be overwhelmed to consider how many choices we’ve made in our entire lifetime. You would probably be shocked to just consider how many choices you made this morning. You made the choice to get out of bed. Some of you on time.

You think about it. I’ve often wished that it was possible that at the age of 16, 17, or 18, to be able to get in a time machine and go forward to your 50, 60, or 70. Make the choices with the wisdom that you have at that stage in life, and then come back to your 16, 17, 18 year old self, and institute those choices. Because life altering choices are made at a young age. Your choice of education, your choice of vocation, your choice of a spouse. And many times, it doesn’t have to be exclusively to that age, but many times the choice whether or not to become a Christian is made at a very young age. And those choices are important. And so I want to talk to you this morning about making good choices.

1. Good Choices Are Often Difficult

How can you make good choices and avoid taking the bad choices? And when you use the example of Daniel in Daniel chapter 6, you’ll remember this story, the most famous story from the life of Daniel, one of the most famous stories in all the Old Testament, is Daniel making the choice to bow his head even openly in prayer, even though it most likely was going to cost him his life. How could Daniel make that choice? How could Daniel make many of the choices that he made? Let’s look at three lessons this morning from the life of Daniel and from the story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den in Daniel chapter 6. The first lesson I want us to consider is that let’s just be honest, that many times good choices are of that is many times bad choices are often easy.

Didn’t Jesus kind of warn us of that in talking about the two pathways, one that would be more easy and one that would be far more difficult. Consider the life of Daniel as an illustration of that. Daniel’s entire life is proof of this first point that good choices are often difficult to make. Daniel had a hard life. When we’re introduced to Daniel, he’s a young man. Now, by the time we get to chapter 6, he’s not a young man anymore. But we’re introduced to Daniel as a young man, and he is a captive in a foreign land. Don’t minimize that. What if we were invaded by some foreign force and you were taken to that foreign country, your enemy, the country that had slaughtered your people and destroyed your nation as it existed, and now you’re made in forced servitude to them.

And add to that to illustrate the point of that, they’re going to change your name. You’re not going to have that American name anymore, that name that your parents gave you. We’re going to give you a name that fits our country. Daniel served under four different kings. Daniel was a two time loser. What I mean by that is his country was overthrown, and then the country he started to serve was overthrown again. Daniel faced at least four times a real threat of death. I venture to say that most of us in this audience this morning have never once really faced the threat of death.

And we’ve probably not faced the threat of death as Daniel faced it, that in all four cases, that threat of death could have been completely avoided by making other choices. Interestingly enough, by making bad choices, if he’d have made bad choices, the wrong choice in every case, the threat of death would have been eliminated from him. But every time Daniel made the right choice. Even though it potentially, on at least four occasions, could have cost him his very life. Making good choices is often difficult. You know, Jesus never hid that fact from us, did he? Turn over with me to the book of Luke, chapter 14. And let’s think about as you’re turning to Luke chapter 14. Think about the story here in Daniel chapter 6.

The story that’s the focus of our lesson of Daniel in the lion’s den. I think sometimes we’ve romanticized that story and maybe told that story so many times that it’s lost its abruptness. The threat of being thrown into a lion’s den. Now remember that Daniel was not thrown into some cleanly swept Disney like cave with cartoon lions. This was a very serious threat. But Jesus warned us that life was going to be that way. Remember, we talked about the two paragraphs. He says one’s going to be easy, but the right one is going to be difficult. He further made that warning in Luke chapter 14. Look beginning in verse 25.

Now great multitudes went with him and he turned and said to them, If anyone comes to me, excuse me, if anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, in his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost? Whether he has enough to finish it, lest after he has laid the foundation is not able to finish, all who see it began to mock him, saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish. Or what king going to war against another king does not sit down first and consider whether he’s able with 10,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20,000.

Or else, while the other is a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for conditions of peace. So likewise, whoever of you who does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple. Anyone who thinks that the life of a Christian, of a true New Testament, dedicated Christian, anyone who thinks that life is going to be easy has not read much of the New Testament. Jesus never hid that fact from his followers, did he? Jesus was not the stereotypical salesman who wants to highlight all the good features and then hide the negatives in the fine print. There was no fine print with Jesus Christ. There’s no fine print with God at all. God says, you want to serve me, it’s going to cost you.

Sometimes cost you greatly. And you’re going to make choices, and those choices are going to be difficult to make. Therefore, point number one is it’s going to require courage to be a Christian. It’s going to require courage to make the good choices. Now let’s understand firmly in our minds what courage is. Courage is not the absence of fear. That’s called crazy. Courage is doing what’s right in the face of fear. If you think for one minute that Daniel went into the lion’s den or his three friends went into that fiery furnace whistling a happy tune, their hands were shaking.

But they had the courage to do it anyway.

If you want to be a Christian, it’s going to be tough.

It’s going to take courage. But you know, that’s really one of the good things. Because we need men and women of courage who will stand up for what is right, do what is right, no matter what. And so when you’re tempted, whether it be at school or work, take courage. And say, I’m going to be that man, that woman, that boy, that girl of strength. And I’m going to make the good choices.

2. Making Good Choices Starts With Making Good Choices

Throughout his life, and particularly here in chapter 6 in the Lion’s Den, is that making good choices starts with making good choices. By the time we get to chapter 6, Daniel’s really an old man. And we might ask ourselves, how could Daniel make this choice? But when you read the first five chapters of Daniel, you’re not surprised that he made the right choice, are you? Because his life had been a life of good choices.

When I was a kid, I used to, and I know this is going to surprise you, but I used to read books. But one book I remember, and maybe it was a series of books that we got from the book fair is that you would read one chapter, and at the end of the chapter, you had to help the character in the story make a decision. And so if the character did this, you’re supposed to turn to page 42 and keep reading. If the character did that, you change page 32. End of that chapter, he made another choice. And so you could read that book, and depending upon what choices were made, you ended up with a different result. Think about Daniel. In chapter 6, making the right, courageous choice to serve God in the face of death.

Would Daniel have made that choice in chapter 6 if in chapter 1 he had compromised and ate the king’s food when it was not the right thing for him to do? Would Daniel have made that choice in chapter 6 if earlier he had out of fear not interpreted the dreams of the king that maybe would have cost his life. Think about the good choices that Daniel made that made the choice in Daniel 6 an obvious one. Again, chapter 1, he refused to defile himself with the king’s food. Why are we told that story? Maybe for multiple reasons, but maybe one reason is to help us understand the context of chapter 6 and how he could make this choice is because he had always made good choices.

In chapter 2, in fact, turn over to Daniel, chapter 2. And let’s look at some of these. We talked about in chapter 1, the good choice that he made to not defile himself with the king’s food. Look at the choice he made in chapter 2, verse 17.

Then Daniel went to his house and made the decision known to Hananiah, Michel, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men in Babylon. The wise men are being killed. They’re going to be lumped into that group. And so what does Daniel and his three friends do? Daniel says, let’s pray to God about this. And that might seem like a minor choice. But it was a good choice. And it was a choice that created momentum for the more difficult choices. Do you remember Jesus taught this lesson in the New Testament? He says, if you’re faithful over little, then I’ll make you ruler over greater.

What Jesus was saying is what Daniel illustrated is that the big, tough, courageous choices can be made properly because we’ve made maybe what we would consider the smaller choices that would lead up to that. Stay in chapter 2, verse 19. Their prayer is answered. Then the secret was revealed. Daniel 2, verse 19 was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven. He asked God in prayer. He says, here’s a crisis in our life. Let’s pray about it. And when God answers the prayer, what does he do? He praises and blesses God. He made the choice to do that. Look over in chapter 3. We’ve already seen this in chapter 2, but it’s underlined again in chapter 3, verse 12, for there were certain Jews whom you have sent over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, these men, O king, have not paid due regard to you.

They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up. These were the closest companions of Daniel. We cannot overstate this choice. That Daniel made as his closest friends and confidants those who shared his faith and his courage.

We went to school together and we went to church together. As far as I can tell, this friend’s still a very, very strong, faithful Christian. But his brother’s not.

Why? How? What happened?

Now I bet he thought a minute. And he says, The best I can figure is that when we were in high school, my brother’s friends were worldly.

And most of my friends, in fact, all of my best friends were Christians. He says, that’s the only difference I can see. You see, choices prepare us for choices. Good choices, making good choices creates a momentum that help you make greater good choices. Sadly, the opposite of that is true, isn’t it? Making bad choices often creates a spiral that, if not causes, helps us to make further bad choices. There’s an old testament illustration of that. What about King David? The bad choice that he made. You could maybe start with the bad choice of him looking upon Bathsheba. That led to the bad choice of inviting her to his palace. That led to another bad choice. That led to another bad choice that ended up in the murder of an innocent man and most likely other soldiers on the battlefield that would have to have died innocently.

3. Good Choices Are Found on the Side of God

A choice that would wreck his life, his family. All because he started making some bad choices. But Daniel is there saying there’s going to come a day in your life where you’re going to have to make a big decision that’s going to alter the rest of your life. The old man, Daniel in chapter 6, would tell the young man Daniel in chapter 1, start now. Start now making good choices. Because you’re going to need it one day. Another lesson that we learn from Daniel is that always good choices are found on the side of God. We commend Daniel for his courage, for his choices that he made in life that led to greater, bigger choices. But we commend Daniel because he chose God. We said that life is full of a lot of choices.

Sometimes there are little choices, sometimes they’re big choices. But the answer to those choices is predetermined by the biggest choice of all. Am I going to truly be a child of God? Are you still in the book of Daniel? Go to chapter six. You know, sometimes. You can tell a lot about a person by what their friends say about them, but you can really tell a lot about a person by what their enemies say about them. Notice what the enemies of Daniel recognized about Daniel. They didn’t like Daniel. They were envious of his position. And so they’re out to get him. And as they conspire together, they’re saying, How can we get Daniel in trouble? Here’s the best thing they could come up with. Chapter 6, verse 5.

Then these men said, We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God. What a compliment. Because Daniel had somehow demonstrated openly in his life that he was going to serve God first, foremost, and ultimately only. Daniel lived out the words of Jesus before Jesus ever spoke them when Jesus said, You’ve got to leave everything and come and follow me. Daniel had done that.

It’s an old saying from the bus company that said, Leave the driving to us.

There’s another saying you see it on bumper stickers a lot that said, God is my co-pilot. Somebody else came up with a better saying that I like said, if God is your co-pilot, you’re in the wrong seat. Because God really needs to be your pilot. What a blessing it is to fully fully commit to God, make that choice, that decision. Because then ultimately every other decision is made. Because of that big decision. Look with me, if you will, in the book of James, chapter 1. I think James is making this point, this connection of dots in James chapter 1 and in verse 12. James, in introducing his discussion about temptation and where temptation comes from and how temptation can be resisted. And let’s pause there and just recognize that’s a choice.

A choice that’s being made. But notice what James says about this choice in James 1, verse 12, blessed is the man who endures temptation. For when he has been approved, he’ll receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those that love him. You ever notice this about James 1, verse 12? That here in the middle is the crown of life. That’s the reward. But James says that this crown of life has been promised to two different groups of people. He ends up saying, this crown of life, which has been promised to those that love God. But he started the verse by saying, but if you endure temptation, you’ll receive that crown of life that was promised to this other group of people. The people who love the Lord.

But I think if we connect the dots, James is not saying that this reward, the crown of life, is promised to two parties. I think James is trying to get us to connect the dots. Blessed is the man who endures temptation. For when he has been approved, he’ll receive the crown of life that has been promised, not to a different group of people, but has been promised to those that love the Lord. Is James not saying that the key to enduring temptation is loving the Lord? Ultimately, temptation, giving in or resisting, comes down to a matter of choice. We chose that sin, that thing over God. Or we chose God over that temptation or that sin. As uncomfortable it is to admit, that’s what temptation comes down to.

Conclusion

And many times, many times, if I struggle with temptation and sin, it may be because I never really made the big choice. Fully committed to God. Or maybe in that moment I’m struggling with maintaining that big choice of choosing God. Daniel could make the tough choices because he made the big choice to serve God. Life’s full of choices. Some of them don’t really matter. The fact that you chose to wear that tie that doesn’t match with that jacket ultimately doesn’t matter. But many choices do matter. And those choices are difficult to make. Those choices often can be made easier by a pattern of good choices. And those choices are always on the side of God. And those good choices will always be rewarded by God. Will you pray with me, please?

Our dear God and Father who art in heaven. We’re so thankful for the good stories of men like Daniel and his three friends and others, Father, who show us the reward of making good choices. Help us, Father, to make the right choices. Help us this day to dedicate ourselves and devote ourselves to that grand choice of serving you. May we leave everything. Everything, and come and follow you. Remind us of the importance of these choices. Help us, Father, by not leading us into temptation, but delivering us from the evil one as we make these choices. Bless us, keep us, love us, protect us. And most of all, Father, own us on that day of judgment. This is our prayer. Christ’s holy name. Amen. We’ll now be dismissed to our class.