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The WOW Factor
The WOW Factor
(Wow Words put an emphasis on the description within the sentence: that which is incredible, beautiful, terrifying, or vicious.)
Live the life you choose!
Mankind was created as a free moral agent. When God created man, He said, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” Gen. 2:16-17). After Adam violated the command, God said, “Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” (Gen. 3:11). Command, violation and accountability necessitate a freewill agency. Therefore, mankind was created with a freewill, and maintains a free will. The apostle Paul put it this way, “If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die” (1 Cor. 15:32).
Mankind has options in life: whether single or married; family or no family; education or no education; rising to the top of the heap or remaining on the bottom rung. These beginning and end results may be the result of environment and/or circumstance, others the result of wise or foolish decisions. In either of these cases, there exists a prevalent reality, i.e., “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes; But Jehovah weighteth the hearts” (Prov. 21:2). and “They that trust in their wealth, And boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him; (For the redemption of their life is costly, And it faileth for ever), That he should still live alway, That he should not see corruption. For he shall see it. Wise men die; The fool and the brutish alike perish, And leave their wealth to others. Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, And their dwelling-places to all generations; They call their lands after their own names. But man being in honor abideth not: He is like the beasts that perish. This their way is their folly: Yet after them men approve their sayings.” (Psa. 49:6-13).
What man’s life may consist of is the ultimate result of decisions made. It is also true, as Solomon says, “I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, even so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.” (Eccl. 9:11 12). Chance! Nevertheless, as Solomon says, “I have also seen wisdom under the sun on this wise, and it seemed great unto me” (Ibid. Vs. 13). Of the two options, i.e., chance or wisdom, Solomon also says, “Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard. The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the cry of him that ruleth among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war; but one sinner destroyeth much good” (Eccl. 9:16-18).
A principle, set forth by the Lord, goes like this: “For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doth not first sit down and count the cost, whether he have wherewith to complete it? Lest haply, when he hath laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all that behold begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. Or what king, as he goeth to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and asketh conditions of peace.” (Lk. 14:28-32).
A call to choice echoes from the beginning: “Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat” (Gen. 3:1-6).
The opportunity to make wisdom-based choices are abundantly clear. Joshua told Israel, “And if it seem evil unto you to serve Jehovah, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah” (Josh. 24:15). Isaiah also spoke of a child, saying, “when he knoweth to refuse the evil, and choose the good” (Isa. 7:15). David said, “Depart from evil, and do good; Seek peace, and pursue it” (Psa. 34:14).
So, where is the WOW factor? Those who chose to do good (having died to sin, Rom. 6:2), have a promise: when the Lord comes “to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at in all them that believed (because our testimony unto you was believed) in that day. To which end we also pray always for you, that our God may count you worthy of your calling, and fulfil every desire of goodness and every work of faith, with power; that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thess. 1:10-12). That will be a WOW factor to the righteous. What about the wicked? “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41).
Choose your life then live it: Select your WOW factor! ret
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