Choose Wisely

There was in one of the Indiana Jones movie “Last Crusade” in one scene a well of water and if the person selected the right cup to drink from, they would be granted immortality. The first man goes in tries to choose the right cup and he ends up selecting the most flashy beautiful cup he can find. He dips it into the water and after a few moments starts to warp into an old looking man and becomes a skeleton afterwards and dies.

Yet when Indiana Jones made his choice, he ends up picking just an ordinary wooden looking cup. His choice ended up being right. The cup seemed ordinary and simple but was the right choice.

Many have choices like this, first we have to choose- how will we try to gain eternal life? Many choose shiney life of “works” hoping God might grant them heaven if they only outweigh their bad with good. Yet others may try a number of other shiny cups they think. Yet the simple cup suffices- “Saved purely by the mercy of God through faith in Jesus Christ.”

Seems so simple people trip over this cup all the time. Yet what we have to understand is Christ already drank the cup of punishment from God’s hand so we could be free- and turn to Him and receive forgiveness.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:8-10 –

Another cup people have trouble choosing from is how to live life, what to pursue, often many chase worldly cups that seem to shine and sparkle, a cup called riches, popularity, human praise or self indulgence, fleshly pleasure

Yet few want to pick the simple cup of “Integrity, honesty, hardwork, purity, humility,”

Many look at a cup called “virtue” and say “that is dull and boring” and others scoff at things they don’t understand the worth of. They would rather have the cups of this world that lead to death

There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.
Proverbs 14:12 –

Choose wisely reader.

Last example I will give is whom people choose as life partners. Some make their choice on what looks best to the eyes like Lot did when he chose Sodom that at first appeared lush and green but later was overthrown

Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.
Genesis 13:10-13 –

Lot’s going by only what looked most appealing got him into trouble. Physical attraction is not bad- but I will tell you its far better to be average looking with character than a supermodel or be off the charts attractive but be filthy inside

25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. 27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Matthew 23:25-28 –

Most of time it seems men are more easilt guilty of this then women but it can go either way. Neither a man nor a woman should just make physical attraction the top priority in who they choose

Character first, then the externals are just a bonus- but not the determining factor.

Because Proverbs says “A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.
Proverbs 12:4 –

It can apply too with a disgraceful man, regardless of how handsome and beautiful they look, you will drink decay into your bones if you settle for the wrong person