“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take” (Proverbs 3:5-6, NLT).

I remember in the days following the tragedy of 9/11 that there were a lot of people telling a variety of “what if”stories.

There was the brokerage firm owner who worked in one of the Twin Towers who “just happened” to be late for work because his son wanted his daddy to take him to his first day at “big boy school.” Missing work he lived to tell the tale. But what if he had been on time to work?

Then, there were the countless firefighters who ran up the smoke-filled staircases of the Twin Towers because they were dedicated to their jobs; dedicated to saving lives. Because of them, many people made their way out alive before the towers fell, but the firefighters lost their lives in the process. But what if they had played it safe and not gone into the burning towers?

Then there were the airplane hijackers. What if they had had a change of heart, reconsidered their attack, and shut down the operation before it ever started? Oh, if they had only done the right thing and stayed home that fateful day!

Everyday we make hundreds of decisions. Most of them have little consequence. But, every now and then we carefully deliberate something that has the potential to change our lives, and we ask ourselves, “Should I do this or should I do that or should I do neither?” You fill in the blank with your circumstances.

What criteria do you use to determine what you will do in any given situation? Do you use your street smarts? Your education? Your pride? Your ego? Your woundedness? Your tears? How about your prayers? Your Bible? Your faith?

What if Jesus had escaped the crucifixion and played it safe? Where would any of us be?

What if, because Jesus DID go through with it all, I had never said, “Yes!” to His offer of salvation?

And what happens to those who NEVER SAY “What if,” when they turn down the life-changing offer of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Our decisions have consequences. Some of them, life-changing consequences, eternal consequences. Choose wisely. Choose Jesus.

David McCall

Executive Pastor