Good morning! As I was going to the Men’s Group at the church last night, I was thinking about the narrow road that leads to life, and a Mr. Beast video that Josh had recently watched came to mind. For those of you who don’t know, Mr. Beast is a YouTuber with A LOT of subscribers. He was doing dangerous things in different parts of the world and in the part of the video I saw, he was driving a truck on one of the most deadly, narrow roads on earth.
The road was barely wider than the vehicle he was driving in and he had to be careful at every turn or risk his life by making the wrong move. At some points he had a friend get out of the vehicle to check the road ahead to make sure it was safe to drive on.
It made me think about my daily walk with God and how important it is for me to watch every step. Like Mr. Beast had the responsibility of his friend riding in the truck with him, we have people in our lives that are affected by the way we live.
How often do we think about this when we are making decisions? God has given us something called free will. This is the freedom to make our own choices.
When we tell Josh to do something as his parents and he verbalizes his reluctance, I always remind him that he has a choice. Then he remembers that there really is no choice if he wants to be obedient – if he chooses disobedience, he knows there will be consequences.
In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he teaches them to consider the outcome of their decisions. The people were justifying the actions they were taking, but Paul challenges them to think about the big picture.
“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.”
1 Corinthians 10:23-24
Paul is saying that even if we feel we have the right to act a certain way, it may not always be the BEST way to act. He was challenging the local church to think beyond what is permissible and consider the bigger impact their decisions will have.
We always encourage Josh to live for Jesus no matter where he is or what he is doing. There are times as he continues to grow and process the things that other people do, where he wants to know why he can’t do certain things. Why can’t I say the same words? Why can’t I watch the same shows? Why can’t I do the same things?
These are all questions that we have asked ourselves at one time or another. When it comes to using some of the same words, I ask him if he can get his point across without saying those words – and he answers, yes. When it comes to the shows, I ask him if he has to watch those shows or are there other shows he can watch that are family-friendly – and he answers, other shows are fine. When it comes to behaviors, I tell him because I’m your Dad, not anyone else’s.
Mer and I were watching a show recently, and for the first two seasons, it was a clean show with minimal cursing and inappropriateness. When we began to watch the third season, everything changed. We ended up turning the show off and have not finished watching it.
The question is… Could we have watched the third season? The answer is yes, we could have – but would that have been the best decision? What would that have shown Josh if he knew that we were continuing to watch a show with elements that we wouldn’t want him to watch?
Paul encouraged the Philippians in this way…
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
Philippians 4:8
I would even take it a step forward and use this as a standard for not just what we think, but also for what we choose to do. Before we speak or act, we should ask ourselves the following questions:
- Do these words or actions contribute to my spiritual growth?
- Do these words or actions build others up?
If the answer to either question is no, we should choose to refrain from moving forward with it. Let us constantly remember the sacrifice that God made for us to experience freedom from sin, and choose to live each day to honor Him!
Heavenly Father, thank You for the freedom that only You could have ever provided for us! There is nothing we could ever do to earn our way into a restored relationship with You, but Your desire for us is to live different, lives that are set apart for You. Help us today to think about the things we say or do beforehand, to ensure they honor You, contribute to our spiritual growth, and build others up! In Jesus Name – AMEN!
Be Transformed 