It's your choice

The choice we make could be the difference between life and death.

On Saturday I was getting ready to meet a friend for breakfast. My day was scheduled pretty tight, as usual there was way too much to do. I was running a little behind, not having called my friend the night before I thought a call on the way was a good idea. My friend couldn’t make it. So I turned the corner heading for the freeway and figured my day would start a little earlier than expected. As I turned the next corner in the distance was what looked like a guy lying in the street. Approaching the guy I saw a woman walk up next to him and bend over to talk to him. Now on the scene I saw the pool of blood under the man’s head and the woman who was talking to him had on latex gloves and she was holding his head.

 I have been First Aid and CPR trained for two years now but never used my training. I jumped out of my truck and ran over to help. As we went through the procedure the memory of my training came right back. I found myself knowing what to do next. I would assist the woman who was on the scene first. Calling out to the young girl on the cell phone and giving vital signs with basic information to the 911 operator. Another man arrived next to me and we gently rolled the man, who was the victim of a bicycle accident, on to his back. He was seizing when I arrived but now showing signs of being alert and coming to consciousness. The woman, who was a nurse, braced his neck with her hands as I restrained him from grabbing at his facial wounds. The other man who helped me roll him left the scene and another showed up, He was asked to help with traffic control so no additional injury’s would take place. The paramedics arrived. As one took my place I made my exit, too many people involved may have caused unnecessary confusion.

The whole event was surreal and was over very quickly. As I began to reflect I was very thankful for the training I received.
As I thought of my full day and having missed a breakfast I was really looking forward to, all of my plans seemed insignificant in relation to what took place.

 I began to think about a couple of things:

 I thought of the Psalm that says that a man plans his ways but his steps are ordered by the Lord. We always make our plans but need to be sensitive enough to the move of God’s Spirit to allow our plans to change for his plans to be carried out through us. I began to wonder why do we push through staying on task so we can complete our daily routine? As we usually do how often is the desire of God to use us missed, causing our journey to come up short of valuable experiences filled with the glory of God that becomes part of our story. I wondered if it would have been a still small voice that prompted me to reschedule breakfast and go around the block to head for the freeway, instead of a phone call,  would I have listened?

 I also thought of the passage in the Gospel of John…Jesus speaking about the Holy Spirit says “he will remind you of the things I already spoke to you.” Like my training I remembered when I needed it ,the Holy Spirit will remind us what we have already learned from the words of Jesus, they will come during times of confusion, persecution, when we need guidance or comfort. Also the book of Galatians says: “The mind of the flesh is death but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace. I know, you might be saying what does that have to do with this situation? I’m glad you asked. I thought, if we daily make the choice to set our minds on the things of the Spirit of God we would live much more sensitive to the leading and promptings of the Holy Spirit. Jesus says in John 16 that he (the Spirit) would not speak on his own but take from what the Father gives him and make it known to us. He goes on to say “and he will show us things to come.”

Being sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit takes walking in the Spirit and living as a daily sacrifice. Not an easy task because we need to learn to get past ourselves. I had a choice on Saturday. There was no requirement for me to stop and help. My day was very full. Yes it was the right thing to do, the thought really never entered my mind not to stop, but the choice was there for me to make, there were a lot of people who passed by and even more who stood looking on but didn’t help out. Walking in the Spirit is a conscious choice. It doesn't just happen because we are born again or church goers. We have to put in the effort to walk with him and avoid what causes his voice to become silent to our hearing. 

How will we live our daily lives, what will we tell the Father when we stand before him in light of Ephesians 2:10. He made us glorious and set good works in front of us to do, all for his glory.

Life with purpose. Life is larger than living for only ourselves.