pNo matter how many bad choices you may have made in the past, you can be redeemed by one good choice - the choice to surrender your life to Christ and follow Him. Max Lucado writes: ‘Ever wonder why there were two crosses next to Christ? Or why Jesus was in the center? Those two crosses symbolize one of God’s greatest gifts - the gift of choice. The two criminals have much in common: convicted by the same system, condemned to the same death, surrounded by the same crowd, and equally close to the same Christ. In fact, they began with the same sarcasm; each said cruel things to Jesus. But one of them changed. He said, “‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And Jesus replied, ‘I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise’” (Luke 23:42-43 NIV). We rejoice that this thief could change, but we dare not forget the one who didn’t. There are times when God sends thunder to scare us. There are times when God sends blessings to lure us. But there are times when God sends nothing but silence, as He honors us with the freedom to choose where we will spend eternity. We have never been given a greater privilege than that of choice. Think about the thief who repented. Though we know little about him, we know this: in the end, all his bad choices were redeemed by a solitary good choice. He chose Christ!’ And you can make that choice today too. ‘Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.’/p
pWhat Now?br /
Think: where have you gone on autopilot, assuming God will make the choices for you, forgetting that God's giving you free choice?/p