<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Elijah came to all the people, and said, \u2018How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.\u2019 But the people answered him not a word\u201d (1 Kings 18:21).<\/p>\n
WHEN IT COMES TO GOD, WE WON\u2019T MAKE MUCH PROGRESS IF WE \u201cFALTER BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS.\u201d There is a certain amount of difficulty that has to be overcome in the course of our journey toward God, and that difficulty won\u2019t be overcome if we haven\u2019t made up our minds and committed ourselves to making the journey. The roadside will be littered with the bleached bones of those who wavered \u2014 those who weren\u2019t sure what their opinion was as to the importance of God and weren\u2019t sure whether devoting themselves to Him was something they wanted to do.<\/p>\n
Less important excursions in life often don\u2019t require any definite goal or decisiveness on our part. For me, one of life\u2019s great joys is the joy of walking, and there are some times when I set out on a walk without any notion of where I want to go. It\u2019s enjoyable just to walk. The destination might change during the walk, and side trips can easily be taken. On such a walk, a little haphazardness doesn\u2019t hurt; it may even enhance the pleasure of the trek.<\/p>\n
But haphazard progress won\u2019t get us to heaven.<\/em> We won\u2019t reach God by casually strolling through life admiring the scenery. God is the God of those who \u201cdiligently seeking Him\u201d (Hebrews 11:6), and that implies the necessity of conscious decision.<\/em> If God is our goal, we won\u2019t move<\/em> toward Him if we don\u2019t reach<\/em> for Him.<\/p>\n In the end, there\u2019ll only be two groups of people. The dividing line won\u2019t be between the fortunate and the unfortunate, or between those who had it easy and those who had it hard; it will be between those who decided to go to heaven and those who didn\u2019t. When \u201cevery wind of doctrine\u201d (Ephesians 4:14) is gusting every which way, it\u2019s the set of our sails that will get us home.<\/p>\n One ship drives east and another west, Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n
with the self-same winds that blow;
\u2019tis the set of the sails and not the gales
that determines where they go.
Like the winds of the sea are the ways
of fate, as we voyage along through life;
\u2019tis the set of a soul that decides its goal
\u2014 and not the calm or the strife.
(Ella Wheeler Wilcox)<\/p>\n