Decades ago (I’m smiling) I knew that I loved the girl who went on to become my wife. For her sake it must have been just a few short years ago, but in my mind it is close to twenty four. We had only just met; in fact the number of days between the first time I told her that I loved her and when we first saw each other was less than forty-five. Some thought I was rather impetuous but I knew my heart and my mind.
I look at the process of making life-changing decisions; I wonder what made the process of choosing my life-partner not-impetuous while other decisions made over years became rash decisions that I instantly regretted. The answer lies how closely aligned you find your heart and mind. In sync, you own the decision. Out of sync, you instantly and forever regret and second guess yourself for choices made.
I was thirteen at the time. It was a sunny Thursday. As I was confronted by the local church pastor about making a decision for Christ his logic seemed to make sense.
“You are at the age where this decision is normally made. I can see no reason that you cannot make it now. Do you want to publicly commit your life to Christ?”
I should have known then that “an impulsive vow is a trap; later on you’ll wish you could get out of it.” (Proverbs 20.25) I regretted the hypocrisy for years and probably decades to come.
Later, having given my life up to God, I faced a new question. How badly did I want to know God? Was there anything that I was willing to let stand between who and what I am and the relationship, if any, between my self and the Divine?
It took six months of sweat, reflection, and tentative decision making to answer the question. Life changing decisions are in the heart and in the mind. In fact they are only made in your soul.
God invites you into relationship. Make a real decision.
