Important Decisions

I’ve heard it said that we only make a few major decisions each year. Major decisions like purchasing a new car or home, changing careers, getting married, entering or leaving college just don’t come along that often.

While all major decisions are important, not all important decisions are major. In fact it is the hundreds of seemingly unimportant daily decisions that add up to shape our character and create our destiny. We constantly make those little everyday decisions without giving them much thought. Am I going to smile? Am I happy today? What will I wear? When will I get up? Will I do it now or later? What will I think about? Will I supersize that combo meal? These are the types of decisions that have led to the person that we have become.

The point of all this is that everything counts. Small errors in judgment repeated every day over time create huge negative results. Since these hundreds of daily decisions shape our destiny they are the important ones and it is vital that we make wise decisions.

Here’s the good news: Making small decisions is easy. The secret is to keep making wise, small decisions consistently. That’s not so easy. It requires conscious effort on our part to make those right decisions until they become habitual. It’s important to “set your sail” every morning.

Spending time with the Lord, praying and reading scripture every morning can set your course for the entire day. Thinking about the type of person you want to become and then acting like that person in the little decisions you make that day can set your life on a new course and ultimately result in a new destiny.

Jesus said that something as simple as a cup of cold water, a visit, or a touch of kindness will have eternal consequences. I suspect that when the dust settles in eternity, we’ll have a new perspective about which decisions were important and which were petty. What important things will you do today?