by Pastor Troy Dorrell

According to the data provided by a Harvard study on dietary habits to stave off type 2 diabetes, sometimes people may choose to live greatly diminished lives rather than change. That last statement is probably overstated and doesn’t consider a number of variables. However, it is true that Harvard researchers found that many people chose to suffer the consequences of refusing to make dietary changes in the face of serious health consequences. The point is that ingrained behavior is hard to change even when we have incentive to do so.   

Change however is something all of us must do if we are to experience the best life available to us. We often need to change our habits, our character, destructive choices, and make new ones to experience different results. One man said that the system of our behavior is perfectly designed to produce the results we are getting. In other words the way we live life and the daily choices we make result in much of the current life we are experiencing. Certainly there are things beyond our control that impact our life for good and evil, but there still remains the truth that we choose much of the life we experience.

God puts it this way, whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. Good choices and decisions beget a good life. Poor choices and bad decisions invite something less than the best into the life we live. Given that truth, I would like to ask this question: Are there changes you need to make in your life, even if they are hard and difficult to make? One of the choices I have made is to do all I can to maintain good health. So I watch what I eat and go to the gym several times a week. Now I can tell you I don’t always enjoy saying no to certain foods and I don’t always love going to the gym. However, I do greatly enjoy the benefits.

Discipline and good decision-making are often the only road we have to travel to get to desired destinations. A question I often ask myself is “what do I want most versus what do I want now”? I may want a new car now, but what I want most is not to be stressed by debt. So there may be wisdom in waiting to buy the car until I can afford it. That question and principle governs much of my life and has proven to be very helpful. The truth for many of us is that there is a life we want but we refuse to live in a way to make it possible. We may desire friends but we do not act friendly. We don’t invite others to our home or extend ourselves in any way and therefore deny ourselves the very things we say we want.

The application I would like to make of all these truths is that many people want something out of life that only God can provide but they refuse to go to Him to find it. Happiness, joy, contentment, meaning, purpose, and meaningful relationships all have their root in a relationship with God. Raising good children and having a good marriage are often best achieved by looking to God’s word for help and guidance. It is my experience that the best life possible is attached to and found in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. A good church home would be a huge help in discovering God’s truths and finding the life that can deliver much of what people are searching for. I know Eastland Baptist Church has been that help to many families, individuals, and young people. You may not be in the habit of going to church, and it may even be a difficult decision for you to make to start attending a church.However, I do think it would be a good decision – perhaps a great change for you and your family, and in time might bring a new life and better things for you in the future.