Sometimes it is hard to determine if something happened because of what we did or did not do. You may even be asking if it is your fault. The truth is however, is that these questions aren’t as important as the question of whether you are doing something good because that is your aim or you did something good by accident because you didn’t have that intention to do good at all.

It is easy for each of us to cop out of this question with an answer that avoids or deflects responsibility, but if we are honest with ourselves, it is the act of choosing to take on responsibility that is important. By making a choice to do something, it means that each of us has considered the reward at the end of a task and maybe even some of the risks. By making this choice however, all of the acts a person makes after the decision are impacted in such away as to make it more likely for the person to do good instead of bad.

So how much more weight is given to this passage,

¹⁹ “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; ²⁰ but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6: 19-21

The act of laying up your treasures means making a choice. Where you choose to lay that treasure is where your heart is. So which way do you think your body is going to move – in unison with your heart or opposite of it? Will our bodies move according to the future we have chosen or to the future we haven’t chosen? If we look at our choices through the lens of this passage, we can uncover the aspects of our life that we have chosen for ourselves and those we haven’t chosen for ourselves. For the facets of our life where we didn’t make a conscious choice – what the heck is occupying that space? If the road to hell is wide and the road to heaven is narrow, chances are that what occupies the not-chosen places in your life is bad, not as good as it could be, or isn’t serving you at all.

When we set a future date for a vacation to the beach, does it not impact our behavior in the present? We probably put down the extra doughnut, drink more water and less coffee, and do a few extra reps at the gym so we look good for the pictures. This same analogy applies to all the areas of your life and the treasure that lays there – did you choose it and does it serve you?

Time to make a choice so you can regain the power in your life that God has given you.