God gave man free will when he created him, which cost all of us down through time. In the garden God told man and woman to work and take care of all He had created. Adam even named all the animals. They walked and talked with their Heavenly Father. Only one “do not” was given to them and that was for their best interest. All the trees in the garden you may eat of but not the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

When we tell our children not to do something, we’re thinking of their safety, but that is what they try us on. So did the first man and woman. Man was told do not eat of the tree, not Eve! She was deceived. If you have not read the beginning of our manual for success (the Bible), you should.

Wrong choices started in the Garden of Eden with Eve listening to the wrong voice. The voice of the serpent said you will be like God. Well, they already were like God. So, they started on the wrong path and opened the wrong gate! The consequence of that choice cost all of humanity and sin entered. Praise the Lord our Heavenly Father had a plan. Jesus came to right the wrong!

We do the same thing when we are not careful to read our instructions found in the Bible! We can read our manual for success over and over, but only if we obey it will we have success! We cannot just read and not obey. Adam and Eve heard but did not obey! One of the greatest mistakes we can make is choosing the wrong people to surround ourselves with. Proverbs 12:26 says, The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray. We will become like who we run with! I am even speaking about church people!

Remember, we have a real enemy who has chosen to harm us. Jesus tells us in John 10:10, The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. Our enemy’s whole goal is to take from us, but Jesus gives us life and not just a little life but MORE ABUNDANTLY.

Our choice! There are consequences for our choices. Choose to open the door to the enemy and suffer the consequences, or choose to open the door to Jesus and receive eternal blessings! It’s our choice! People can pray for us, ministers can teach us, the Holy Spirit wants to lead us, even the instruction from His Word shows us, but it’s about our will lining up with His will to have God-filled consequences in our life.

So as Joshua 24:15 states …. choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.  CHOOSE CHRIST AND THRIVE!