There are two sides to a fence; this side and that side. If life were a fence there are also two sides….God’s side and the devils side. But in life you have an extra choice on which side you stand on. It’s called sitting on the fence, but the thing about this choice is that you’re still in the devils territory. If you choose to sit on the fence, you’re still on the devils side, because he owns it. Not only does he own it, but he deceives the “fence sitters” by making the other side look much greener and happier. But if you’re sitting on the fence it’s easy to…. (”ooop!”) Slip off and find yourself on the wrong side. And if you live on a farm you would know that falling of the fence may involve landing in a pile of doo doo, which is never fun or easy to clean up. The devil uses this fence as a very persuasive and manipulative tool for deceiving people to join his side. And it is our decision to choose which side we will stand on.
Decisions are made on the basis of what we believe in and stand for. The decisions we make shape who we are, what we do and the influence we have on those around us. Decisions have changed the world and no matter the size of the decisions, it counts as a life altering choice.
“In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”
- Theodore Roosevelt
There are countless decisions we make every day, from deciding what time to get up at to what we are going to have for dinner. A lot of these small decisions have a little effect on our life in one day, but over all they have a big effect on our life as a whole. There are three choices we consider before making a decision. These are doing the right thing, doing the wrong thing, and to nothing. The worst thing we can do is not make a decision, because even making wrong decisions can lead to a good outcome or making the right decision in the future.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and who have been called according to his purpose.” - Romans 8:28
God works all things out for good. All the bad decisions we make eventually will turn out for the good. That is amazing, how God can string it all together and make it turn out alright in the end!
“We are given one life, and the decision is whether to wait for circumstances to make up our mind, or whether to act, and in acting, to live.” -Omar Nelson Bradley
1 Samuel 19-20
Jonathan is a good example of how we should make decisions. The choices Jonathan made in his friendship with David were that of someone who takes initiative and doesn’t just sit around. Jonathan, instead of obeying his father’s orders, went against what his dad wanted done and went out of his way to do the right thing. This should be the attitude we are armed with every step of the way. Not falling into the path of indecision and not being tempted to make the wrong choice, but making the right choice no matter the cost! When we are faced with the temptation of a bad choice it’s not just avoiding the bad choices, but making the good choices to passionately pursue a life of doing good.
“Deliberate with caution, but act with decision; and yield with graciousness or oppose with firmness.” -Charles Caleb Colton
Luke 15:11-32
The parable of the lost son is another good example of how we should make decisions. After the son demanded money from his father and after he left and squandered it he comes home where his father runs to him and embraces him! The father of the lost son did not have to welcome his son home or love him again. He could have just let his son suffer or could have killed him. Instead he made a bold, daring and courageous choice to step up and love his son even though it went against how they lived.
Making the right choice isn’t always simple, but once we take that step it becomes easier to make the right decision in the future and it sets into your life the good discipline of making the right choices at the right time for the right reason! It is the choices we make in the moments of uncertainty that define our strength of will and the firmness we have in doing the right thing.
When faced with the forked road of decision, instead of just not taking the evil road, we should also avoid taking the middle road of not doing anything and take the road of the right decision. It is that road that leads to a happier life and it is that road that we walk along with the support of our Father in Heaven.
“Two roads diverged in the middle of my life I heard a wise man say I took the road less traveled by and that’s made the difference every night and every day.” – Larry Norman
We can often find ourselves making a string of bad decisions in a row, which is hard to get out of, but knowing your faults, owning up to them and having the will to change is vital to creating the passion for making good, sound decisions. We need to have a passion for making good decisions instead of habitual actions of doing nothing or making bad decisions. It’s easy and effortless to sit back and do nothing, but we don’t get anywhere in life unless we make decisions. By following God and making choices based on what His word says and where we feel He is leading we will find ourselves living the desires of our heart through the good decisions we have made.
“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” –Psalm 37:4
The decision on which side of the fence to stand on is a difficult, but important one we have to make. Where we stand is where we fall! Often making the right decision means stepping away from our line of thinking (taking ourselves off the throne) and putting God on the throne and asking Him to lead. In order to make better decisions, better choices and think in a wiser manner involves growth in our relationship in Jesus.
“Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known into the unknown.” –Author Unknown
God’s side of the fence isn’t always easy and sometimes the path your taking doesn’t even make sense to you. Changing involves the decision and will to step from all that we are comfortable with into all that we are uncomfortable with.
To think that making the choice to stand on God’s side of the fence is easy, or just a one-time decision is to kid yourself. It is a decision we have to make every day, because no matter where we are in life, that fence is always there and the devil is always sitting on the fence waiting for you to come along and make the decision to join him. We need to be careful in where we stand and how easily we allow ourselves to be moved or persuaded. We need to rest ourselves in the Gods embrace and allow Him to be our protector and guider through life.
We are often faced with more bad decisions then good decisions and “Jean Jacques Rousseau” says it best when he said, “Falsehood has an infinity of combinations, but truth has only one mode of being.” The devil is an atrocious, hideous and repulsive being. He will always be that way and he will always look for every little opportunity to catch us slipping up. He has so many disguises it is often very difficult to spot the wolf in sheep’s clothing. But we don’t need to worry about trying to decide with disguise is the right one, because we shouldn’t even be looking at the disguises we should be following the unchanging truth! It never changes and if it never changes it will always be the same and it will always outwit the devil and his ridiculous schemes.
We should always stand on God’s side of the fence, but never with our back turned to it. We shouldn’t face the fence, but keeping it in view allows us to prepare ourselves for the decisions that we will need to make. By allowing it to remain behind us we will only trip over it when we start walking backwards not sure what to do. Our battle stance should be focused on God, but wary of the devil and his fence!
As follower of the One and True God, we don’t always know where we will be led! But one thing is for sure, with our trust in God, He will always be leading and always be looking out for us.
“Faith never knows where it is being lead, but it loves the One who is leading” – Oswald Chambers
So I challenge you to make sure you are standing firm on God’s side of the fence where the grass is always fresh and green unlike the false turf the devil lays on his side. Don’t let the temptation drag you over that fence, because as easy as it is to climb over, it’s that much more difficult to retrace your steps and come back. Sitting on the fence is a dangerous business that no one should live in the habit of doing. We need to keep our selves planted in God’s soil, facing Him with the fence in focus and remain on His side, not the devils and not the indecisive position on the fence, because the devil owns the fence…..