The Choice

A year ago, my Spanish teacher told my class that we had a choice.

“If you work hard on your conversations,” she explained. “You could all get 100 % on the oral part of the final exam.”

The choice was ours. Some of us took it. I know that her words inspired me. I worked hard and received my 100 %. Now, a year later, it is a reminder of what the choice of hard work and perserverance can do.

Today, I told the Intro Spanish class the same thing. I’m a Student Aide now and it’s my job to motivate, inspire, and help teach similar lessons. As the kids worked this afternoon, I reminded them of the choice that they have. It doesn’t matter if they have 50 % or 98 %, they are all capable of making the choice to succeed on this final exam.

Most of them didn’t believe me. They said they’d fail anyway and that it wouldn’t make a difference. A lot of them were stuck in their past mistakes and the fear that they wouldn’t be able to move on. Some felt like they didn’t have a choice. Others just didn’t feel like trying. They made the choice to talk to their friends or go on their iPods instead of studying. Regardless of what they told me today, all of my students had a choice.

At the end of class, I was pleased to see that some of them had chosen to believe me. Even some of the disbelieving students had worked hard, perseveared, and finished. They made the choice for success today, and I can only pray that they will continue in it next week and all the days of their lives.

But its not just Spanish students with oral final exams who have choices to make. As Christians, we all have choices everyday. Yes, God is in ultimate control. However, He has given us free will and the choice to follow Him.

When we wake up in the morning, we can choose to be lazy or dilligent. If something doesn’t go our way, we can either choose between joy or complaining. Throughout our days we choose our socks, lunch meals, friends, and plans for the future. In many cases, the choice is ours.

But what if we went beyond those simple decisions and chose to glorify God in all of our choices? What if we chose to read the Bible everyday? What would happen if we chose to pray about everything? Because everyday there is the choice to love, encourage, give, and live to the fullest.

It doesn’t matter how hard we’ve failed in the past. Just like the kids with 45 % in Spanish, we can also make God our 100 % choice. Because love and grace are the choices that He made on the cross. But just as the exam date will one day past, our time on earth is short. The choice to follow and love God today is the most important choice we will ever make.