I Have Decided

 

It was Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1982. The coldest it got that day was 19 degrees. The warmest it got was 35 degrees. The wind blew at 16 miles per hour.

• On this day the Secretary of State Alexander Haig seeks sanctions against USSR and Poland’s martial law government, says Soviets still using chemical warfare in Afghanistan, elsewhere.
• There was a civil war going on in El Salvador.
• Rocky 3 was playing in the theaters.
• Ronald Reagan was the president.

 

 

On February 14, 1982 I made the single most important decision of my life.

 

It was on February 14^th 1982 that I made the paramount decision of my life.  For it was on this day that I decided to give my life to Jesus Christ and to be baptized in His wonderful name as the scriptures command us.

 

This one decision would ultimately guide every one of the hundreds of thousands of decisions I would make for the rest of my life.

 

This decision dictated for me…

• Where I would go to college.
• Who I would marry.
• Who my children would be.
• Who my friends would be.
• Where I would live.
• What my occupation would be.
• And ultimately where I would spend eternity.

 

As I stand here today, I can tell you that that one single decision that I made over 30 years ago was the greatest decision of my life.

 

That one decision has blessed my life in ways I could never begin to explain to you.

 

The happiest moments of my life have been because of that one decision.

The most important decisions of my life have been because of that one decision.

 

That decision was paramount.

• It was supreme
• It was utmost over any one of the hundreds of thousands of decisions I have made before or since then.

 

There can be no greater decision one can make in their life than the decision to yield to God’s will in their life.

 

I wonder today could mean to someone here 30 years from now.

 

• I wonder if you will remember this day.
• What life changing decision could you make that would ultimately affect every decision of your life?
• Is there a possibility that this day could be the day that you will always remember as the day that altered the course of your life?
• Will this be the day that you remember for all of time as the day that you made the most important decision of your existence?

 

A decision:

• It’s a conclusion of an evaluation.
• It’s the outcome of an assessment.
• It’s the verdict of an investigation.
• It’s the finality of a conclusion.
• It’s the point in which one decides.
• It’s a decision.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the day of Pentecost, the people asked Peter, “What must we do… He told them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins.”

 

• You see, Peter could tell them all day long what they should do, but ultimately, it took them making a decision to do what it was he was explaining to them.
• They had to make the decision to follow what it was he was teaching.

 

It’s important to know today that…

 

• You are the only one who can make this decision.
• No one can make it for you.
• If you ask the opinion of other people in your life, it is probable that many of them will not agree with your decision.
• In fact, after you make this decision, some of them are going to tell you it was the wrong decision.
• But you need to know that it is your decision to make nonetheless.
• You are the one who will be affected by it.
• It is your life that will be changed by it.
• This decision is yours to make.

 

An old Chinese proverb says this about decisions: “A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows the public opinion.”

 

• In this world that we live in, there seems to be a shortage of men and women who can make their own right decisions.
• Public opinion generally decides for us much of what we believe.
• We ask people all the time… “What do you think about this?
• What do you think I should do?
• Do you like this outfit?
• At the restaurant it’s, “What are you going to order?”
• It would appear that many of us are incapable of making a decision of our own many times.

 

All it takes to alter some people’s opinions on something is a funny commercial or some celebrities view on the matter.

 

It’s important for us to understand here today that a decision can change your life.

 

• A decision can change your outlook.
• A decision can change the course of your life.
• All it takes is one single decision and your life will never be the same.

 

I remember hearing a story of a man who on 9/11 decided to stop and buy donuts for the people in his office that day.

 

• That one single decision put him just a few minutes late.
• That one single decision also saved his life.

 

You see a decision is something that alters the course that your life is heading.

 

• If you don’t like the seat you are sitting in all it takes is a decision to change that condition.
• If you don’t like your job, all it takes is a decision to change the situation.
• If you don’t like the direction your life is going; all it takes to change that situation is a decision.

 

A single decision can change so much…

 

• But what about the most important decision of them all?
• What about the one that all of the other ones are dwarfed by?
• What about the most important decision of your life?

 

 

• Joel 3:14?Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

 

 

 

 

This world is stuck between two opinions.

 

• God or no God.
• This is the reason for so much trouble in the world.
• This is the reason people are starving today
• This is the reason there is war
• This is the reason for crime
• If this world could make this one decision, I want you to know that this world would be a much better place to live.
• But what about our world?
• What about our family.
• What about our workplace?
• What about our community?

 

Psalm 25:12?What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall He teach in the way that he shall choose.

 

This verse lets us know that when we honor and love God, He begins to teach us the right paths for our lives.

 

• If you’ve made too many wrong choices in your life, it may be that you’ve had some bad teachers…

 

There are choices to be made in this world, and it’s not just what to wear or what to eat or where to go….

 

We have to decide what we are going to do about God.

 

• Many of us have been wrestling with this conversation for most of our lives.
• God has been knocking at our hearts door for as long as many of us can remember, but to this day some of us have still not decided what to do about Him.
• Over and over again in our lives, He has been there waiting for us to open our hearts and let Him in, and the only thing that has been standing in the way of our enjoying a blessed life with Him is One Single Decision.

One Single decision. Just one single decision!

 

“The person who in shaky times also wavers only increases the evil, but the person of firm decision fashions the universe.”

 

• Now your ambitin today may not be to fashion the universe,
• But what about your world?
• What about your life?
• What about your situation?
• Could a single decision to be baptised in Jesus name change the situation of your life?
• Could it change the direction you are going?
• Could it cause your life to have a greater purpose?
• Could it cause you to find the direction you have been searching for?
• Could it give you the meaning you have been so desperately been seeking?

 

I believe it could.

 

• In fact, I am standing here a living witness of the Life Changing Power of a Single Decision.

 

But hey, we can always deal with this some other day – right?

 

• We can always make this decision later – right?
• Why be in such a hurry?
• Why be in such a rush?
• We can always do this another day…

 

2 Corinthians 6:2

“…behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation…”

 

• Is today your day?
• Is today the day that you will remember for all of eternity?

 

Nothing Changes until something changes and something is never going to change if we don’t make a decision about some things in our life.

“I have decided” should be our Mantra.

“I have decided” should be our Song.

“I have decided” should be the cry of our hearts every time some situation comes against our desire to live for God.

 

My minds made up.

 

• My heart is set.
• I have decided to Live for Jesus Christ no matter what any other person in this world does or says or believes.

 

Nothing is going to change my mind.

 

“I have decided.”