Running a Mack Truck into Your Decisions

Yesterday’s message from Genesis 13:5-18 explored Lot’s poor discernment. His decisions affected his life and his witness for his God. Below is a great resource to help you with the decisions you face each day.

This excerpt comes from Ed Dobson’s book entitled “Abraham: The Lord Will Provide”

Mack

 We’ve seen that Lot made three critical mistakes:

1. He chose self over others.
2. He chose his occupation over his family.
3. He chose the immediate over the future.

Given that all of life is making the right decisions, how do I go about doing it? Think of the word Mack. Run your decisions up against a Mack truck.

1. M—Motive: What Is My Motive?  What is my motive in this decision—self or others? Am I making this decision purely motivated by what it will do for me, or am I considering its impact on others?

2. A—Affect: How Will It Affect My Convictions?  Later in the life of Lot, we will discover that cooperation with the world leads to contamination and ultimately compromise with it. There is a spiral that leads us farther and farther down, until we violate our own values. Ask yourself, How will this affect my beliefs and values? “We want you to become a full partner in the firm, but you know we do things a little bit differently from the way religious people do them. We’re not going to ask you to do anything really bad, but you’ve got to understand that in the world in which we live, you know, there are a few corners that you have to cut.” Better not to have a job than to have one that necessitates the lowering of your Christian values and convictions. Because once you open the door to the world, before long you are contaminated and are doing the very things that contradict your commitment to Jesus Christ. How will this affect my belief system? I would rather stand before God dirt poor, without compromising, than offer God my portfolio and all of my accomplishments, having cut corners and compromised my convictions. God, keep us true to your word and to what it means to be a Christian.

3. C—Consequences: What Are the Long-term Consequences? What will result from this decision? As I look beyond the decision, what are the ultimate consequences? Lot couldn’t see it! All he saw was a bunch of grass on a plain. Yet the text tells us that Sodom and Gomorrah were there.

4. K—Kids: How Will it Affect My Kid(s)? Have you thought about that? Much of the corporate world is no friend to the family, thought it’s beginning to change a little.