“But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15 (NLT)
As we travel our individual journeys on planet earth, we must make choices or face challenges requiring us to make a decision. Should I go this way, or that way? Should I do this, or that? How you make your decisions defines who you are as a person.
So, how do you make decisions?
To observe how someone makes decisions throughout their day, a simple review of their bank statement and time calendar should reveal all you could possibly want to know. Based on how one spends their money and time, will give you a clear indication on how someone determines what is important in his or her life.
If you really want to achieve something, be or do something, you must know where you want to go. Let’s say you have a goal of going from Seattle to New York. You can look at your starting place and your destination on a map and draw a straight line from here to there.
Now, in a perfect world, you would just step out your front door and arrive in New York in a few hours, but we live in an imperfect world with laws of motion and gravity which can have influential variances, routes with unexpected twists and turns, and a wide variety of distractions and delays along the way, when trying to get from here to there.
The slightest variance in direction, of only a few degrees, will land you in Miami, instead of New York; way off your intended destination.
So, if you want to get where you’re going in life, you may consider paying attention to the details. Often making an impromptu decision can result in your ending up lost on some godforsaken logging road or deer trail. It could take you a while before you get back on track.
What’s your rule of thumb in making decisions? I know, it wasn’t long ago and the acronym WWJD, which stands for “What would Jesus do?” was quite popular. But what a great sentiment it was. You could use this as your rule of thumb and replace Jesus’ name with any mentor, person or deity whose decision-making skills you respect. Just pausing for a brief moment to ponder, what would that person do if he or she were in my shoes, right now?
Choosing to engage in an activity that does not serve your best interests, further your cause, or lead you closer to achieving a goal is at the very least a distraction, but could very well derail your whole train (and not just your train of thought). It can leave you wounded and in a weakened condition that could take a great deal of time to recover from.
I kind of like the WWJD idea. I am okay with using Jesus as a role model because, well, I’m his biggest fan, and I’ve followed his work for the greater part of my life. I feel like he and I share a resonance. So, in that moment, when I ask, “What would Jesus do?” That works for me.
If you’re a businessperson and you admire and have followed the work of Steve Jobs, you might pause and ask, “What would Steve do?” And just taking that brief moment to consider the possibilities of looking outside of yourself, your life, and your circumstances, may be all that you need to keep on track.
Whatever works for you, do that thing. Try to make good decisions and stay the course to achieve your highest and best.
Whoever you admire and respect, look up to and inspires you, use the mind of that person to step into momentarily in the moment of your decision.
But for me and my family, we will ask, “What would Jesus do?”
~ Rev. David M, St. Paul’s Free Church