I must say that
reading of the book Decisions, Decisions by Dave Swavely
was both painful and blessed. As painful as the first part of the
book was to read, the second part of the book blesses the soul
deeply. The second part of the book is so helpful in helping us
make Christ-honoring decisions and the first part of the book
clears the way for those types of decisions to be made.
Let’s start
with the second part of the book. Swavely does a terrific job of
setting out the guidelines and foundations of making biblical,
Christ-honoring decisions. The first is walking closely with
Christ in our daily lives. Another biblical guideline is
recognizing the Master’s sovereign hand in all of life and
praying for the Lord to reveal His will through the Word, wisdom
and providence. Coupled with this is the counsel we glean from
godly friends, family and people we respect. But sandwiched in the
middle are three vital questions we bring to any decision we make.
- What
does the Bible say about it?
- What
is the wisest choice?
- What
do I desire to do?
There is a
“line of freedom” between Scripture and Wisdom/Desire that is
quite helpful. Our God has given us our minds and He takes into
consideration our thoughts and the desires He has allowed us to
have. I have only barely described part two, “How to Make
Decisions”, because it is worth reading page by page.
The hard part of
the book for me was Part One. I didn’t agree with every example
Swavely gives on poor decision-making, but he does an excellent,
though painful, job of demolishing erroneous methods that
Christians sometimes use to know the will of God. I don’t think
anyone reading this book will be exempt from the Lord using
Swavely’s convicting words on how we’ve done “Christian
decision making”. Those chapters are so helpful in paving the
way for the second part of the book. The first part gets the junk
out of the way so that the path is ready for Christ-honoring,
biblical decision making to happen on a consistent basis.
Buy the book,
prayerfully work through the discomfort of conviction and rejoice
in the blessed truths that guide us to make Christ-honoring,
biblical decisions.
Dean Conkel,
Coordinator of Youth and Family Ministries, CE&P
-Charles
Dunahoo
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