The first week of football season didn’t disappoint. My favorite team faced that other team, and the rivalry was alive before kickoff. Sparks flew when one of our star players was ejected for spitting. As a loyal fan, I jumped to his defense. If I say, “Dak spit first,” you know exactly what I mean.
But let me step back from fandom for a moment. I remember a teacher who did not put up with our excuses growing up. We had a tendency to blame other people for our misbehavior. We'd say, “He made me do it.” Our teacher's answer was always the same: “No one can make you do anything you don’t want to do.” She was teaching us something powerful, that we always have a choice. We decide how we respond, no matter what someone else does to us or says--or even the direction they spit.
Psalm 2 says that in a different way. First, the psalmist acknowledged that “the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain.” People have always schemed, resisted and rebelled against God. Many of them even succeed at what they do. That hasn’t changed. That won't change. But the psalmist reminds us we don’t have to join in. Instead, the call is clear: “Be wise…serve the Lord… and happy are all who take refuge in him.”
My teacher was right. There are few moments when someone makes you do anything. The choice is yours. Even we adults (and professional athletes) still need to hear that lesson. So today, choose wisdom. Choose the way of God over the vanity of the world. Don't let what others do make you think you don't have a choice to walk faithfully with God.
Stay blessed...john | 
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