Better

Making good decisions are always important through life. At every juncture in life at whatever age, we all encounter several choices, and many of these choices are good. God wants us to make the BEST choices. Below are a few passages which remind us of making BETTER choices.

1. The choice of a spouse. Genesis 29:19.
When Jacob fled from Esau and lived in Padan-Aram, he met Rachel, the daughter of Laban, and told Laban that he loved Rachel and wanted to marry her. Laban responded in Genesis 29:19:
"It is BETTER that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man."
Choosing a lifetime partner is very, very, very important. Each person needs to pray, take time, learn the potential partner as well as possible, and seek counsel from wise people to make the best choice. This makes for a happy, productive life.

2. The choice of the place where one should live. Numbers 14:3.
When the ten spies who had gone to survey the land of Canaan and give a bad report, the Israelites responded that they wanted to go back to Egypt where they had lived in slavery for 450 years. Their words are:
"Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become booty; would it not be BETTER for us to go back to Egypt?" (Numbers 14:2-3).
It is very important to make good choices to live in a place where YOU can serve God the best. One should seek the Lord in prayer, seek good counselors, spend time to weigh the options, learn the culture into which YOU are entering, and constantly pay attention to clues of divine guidance.

3. The choice between performing correct external religious acts and obeying God's commands. 1 Samuel 15:22.
Yahweh through Samuel commanded king Saul of Israel to utterly destroy the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:1-9) because the Amalekites attacked the Israelites on their way from the Red Sea to Mount Sinai (Exodus 17:8-16). Rather than obeying Yahweh, Saul took things into his own hands: he spared the king of the Amalekites and he spared the best sheep and cattle among the Amalekites alleged to kill them as sacrifices to Yahweh.
It is ALWAYS much easier to perform external religious acts such as singing, praying, fasting, preaching, partaking of the Lord's Supper, submitting to baptism, etc., than to obey God's commandments such as worshipping and serving Yahweh alone, avoiding and opposing the use of images or idols, refraining from taking God's name in vain, keeping the Sabbath, honoring one's father and mother, etc.
Yahweh through Samuel declared to Saul:
"Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Surely, to obey is BETTER than sacrifice,
and to heed than the fat of rams." (1 Samuel 15:22).

4. The choice between arrogance or self-importance and humility or service.
Proverbs 12:9: "BETTER to be despised and have a servant
than to be self-important and lack food."

Proverbs 16:19: "It is BETTER to be of a lowly spirit among the poor
then to divide the spoil with the proud."

Proverbs 25:7: "It is BETTER to be told, 'Come up here"
than to be put lower in the presence of a noble."

5. The choice between wealth or success and a genuine heart or godly life.
Proverbs 15:16: "BETTER is a little with the fear of the Lord
than great treasure and trouble with it."

Proverbs 16:8: "BETTER is a little with righteousness
than large income with injustice."

Proverbs 28:6: "BETTER to be poor and walk in integrity
than to be crooked in one's ways even though rich."

These texts immediately remind each one of us about experiences which have affected our lives. Meditate on these and similar texts throughout scripture.

Share YOUR needs and failures and anticipations and ideas with others. Let me hear from YOU.

John Willis