I once heard an elderly minister who had served the Lord in His work for over 60 years make this statement. “It takes the same dedication at 70 years of age that it did when I was twenty.” There are decisions and there are DECISIONS. To differentiate them, the phrase ‘decisions of quality’ may help. What is a decision of quality? How are they different than the everyday snapshot variety? That’s what we are going to look at in today’s blog.

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• There are many other places in the Bible where men were called to a decision. Joshua made this statement about himself and his family to the children of Israel.

Josh. 24:15 (NLT) 15 But if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.”

• He makes this bold declaration after first giving his people a history lesson of God’s dealings with them.
• He speaks of to them of the establishment of the nation of Israel by the calling of Abraham and by all of His wonderful dealings with him in giving his barren wife Sarah, Isaac.
• Joshua then details God’s deliverance of Israel: from Egypt, from the mouth of Balak, from the Amorites; from the leaders of Jericho, from the Perizzites, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
• After all these miracle rescues, the Lord Most High gave them the land of promise.
• To this backdrop of God’s saving graces and mercies, Joshua says  “Choose whom you will serve but as for me and my house, our minds are made up.”
• Our decision has been made.
• We will serve the Lord.
• At what stage of life was Joshua when he uttered these well know words?
• He was old and stricken in age.
• You are never too young or never too old to choose the Lord.
• You’re never too old to decide.
• You are never too old to make a decision of quality

Quality Decisions

• Let’s talk about quality decisions.
• What are they?
• A quality decision is one you make from which there can be no turning back.
• There are decisions of finality.
• Quality decisions should always be made with adequate time and thought.
• These should never be decisions of haste or emotion.

Ecclesiastes 5:4 (KJV) — 4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.

• Quality decisions are until death do you part choices.
• Saying yes to Jesus for the salvation of your heart is this type of decision.
• You will do yourself a disservice if you make a lifelong decision in the wink of an eye.
• Why?
• Because anything lightly spoken is easily broken.
• When I was courting Sharon, I told her, “If I tell you ‘I love you’, if I let those words go out from my mouth, we are going to the altar.”
• I didn’t speak those words until I was sure until I knew that I knew in my spirit.
• Many make a great mistake letting those words fly out of their mouth about every Tom, Dick, and Sally they date.
• Those who are careless with these words prove that they have no clue what these words mean.
• “I love you” is a commitment phrase.
• It is a covenant phrase.
• “I love you” is a quality decision.

What I Love You Really Means

• I love you, means all that 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 entails.

1 Corinthians 13:4–8 (AMP) — 4 Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. 5 It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. 6 It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. 7 Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. 8 Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]…

• “I love you” means, I promise to endure long and be patient and kind with you.I
• I promise not to be envious or be eaten up with jealousy.
• I promise not to be proud and boastful and puffed up.
• I love you means I will not be rude, nor selfishly seek my own.
• I promise not to be easily provoked by you.
• I will not think evil of you.
• I love you means that I promise not to rejoice when you get into difficulty even sin.
• But I will rejoice with you when you walk in truth when you experience victories in truth.
• I will not be jealous of you when God prospers your way.
• “I love you” means I will bear up under anything that comes between us no matter how you push my buttons.
• “I love you” means I will never fail you.
• I will do it forever.
• Love is for a lifetime.
• A photographer tells of a young man who wanted duplicate copies of his girlfriend’s picture. The photographer noticed the following inscription on the back of the portrait, “My dearest Tom, I love you with all my heart. I love you more and more each day. I will love you forever and ever. I am yours for all eternity.” Signed, Dianne. “P.S. If we ever break up, I want this picture back.”
• This is not a quality decision. A quality decision is one from which there is no turning back.

Call to Action:

On the top of a hill in a Midwestern state stands a courthouse so situated that raindrops falling on one side of the roof travel by way of the Great Lakes into the Atlantic, while drops landing on the opposite side find their way through the Ohio and Mississippi to the Gulf. Just a breath of wind one way or the other may determine whether a single raindrop will end up either in the Gulf or in the Atlantic. Even so, one single decision is enough to determine a man’s destiny. Have you made the right decision?

Question: What experience have you gained from making quality decisions in your everyday life? How did sticking to that decision alter your destiny? Please leave a comment in the comments section below.