00:00:01 The theme of this month’s program
00:00:03 is “Make Wise Decisions.”
00:00:07 And our discussion is based on Job 34:11.
00:00:12 Let’s read that together:
00:00:14 “For he [Jehovah] will reward a man
00:00:17 “according to what he does
00:00:20 and bring upon him the consequences of his ways.”
00:00:26 As highlighted in this scripture,
00:00:29 our actions are very important.
00:00:32 And our actions are usually the result
00:00:34 of decisions we make.
00:00:37 Some decisions are made after a lot of serious thought.
00:00:41 Others, though, are made very quickly.
00:00:44 But no matter how much thought goes into making a decision,
00:00:48 we need to recognize this basic fact:
00:00:52 Wise decisions bring positive rewards,
00:00:57 and wrong decisions can result in very negative consequences.
00:01:04 Of course, all of us want to make wise decisions.
00:01:07 But what are wise decisions?
00:01:10 Wise decisions are those that please our heavenly Father, Jehovah.
00:01:17 Most of us have already made some very good decisions.
00:01:21 These include the big decisions in life,
00:01:23 such as dedicating ourselves to Jehovah
00:01:26 and getting baptized
00:01:28 and deciding not to become involved
00:01:30 in the religious and political disputes of this world.
00:01:35 No doubt, before we made those major decisions,
00:01:38 we spent a lot of time praying about them
00:01:41 and seeking Jehovah’s direction.
00:01:44 And we’ve seen his blessing in our lives
00:01:46 because of these right decisions.
00:01:50 In this program, though,
00:01:52 we won’t be discussing such major decisions.
00:01:56 Rather, we’ll focus on decisions
00:01:59 that may be viewed by some as minor.
00:02:02 However, some of these
00:02:05 can lead to very serious consequences.
00:02:09 First, we’ll consider a Bible example
00:02:11 of a person who served Jehovah
00:02:14 and yet made some wrong decisions along the way.
00:02:18 We’ll analyze what caused this faithful servant
00:02:21 to make these wrong decisions.
00:02:24 Then we’ll consider what we need to do
00:02:27 in order to make wise decisions.
00:02:31 Finally, we’ll consider what we need to do
00:02:33 if we realize we’ve already made an unwise decision.
00:02:38 So to start, let’s discuss a faithful servant of Jehovah
00:02:43 who made some unwise decisions.
00:02:47 The example we have in mind
00:02:49 is that of King Jehoshaphat.
00:02:53 What was Jehovah’s view of King Jehoshaphat?
00:02:56 Let’s see the answer
00:02:57 at 2 Chronicles chapter 17
00:03:01 and verses 3 and 4:
00:03:04 “Jehovah continued with Jehoshaphat
00:03:07 “because he walked in the former ways of his forefather David
00:03:12 “and did not search for the Baals.
00:03:15 “For he searched for the God of his father
00:03:17 “and followed his commandment
00:03:19 and not the practices of Israel.”
00:03:24 That sounds like a wonderful commendation, doesn’t it?
00:03:27 Yes, Jehoshaphat was a faithful king.
00:03:31 He made the wise decision to worship Jehovah.
00:03:36 But even so,
00:03:38 he still made some very unwise decisions.
00:03:42 Let’s read about one of those unwise decisions
00:03:46 at 2 Chronicles 18:1:
00:03:52 “Jehoshaphat had riches and glory in abundance,
00:03:56 but he made a marriage alliance with Ahab.”
00:04:02 Yes, he made his son marry Ahab’s daughter Athaliah.
00:04:06 Now, that was a very unwise decision.
00:04:09 Why?
00:04:11 Because Ahab had built a temple for Baal
00:04:14 and had even employed 850 false prophets.
00:04:19 Ahab was also married to wicked Queen Jezebel.
00:04:25 Who would want their child to marry into such a bad family?
00:04:29 What was Jehoshaphat thinking?
00:04:32 Why did he arrange for this marriage?
00:04:36 Perhaps he wanted to reunite the 12 tribes,
00:04:39 or he may have had some political and commercial motives
00:04:43 for wanting to have Ahab as an ally.
00:04:46 Even though we don’t know for sure the reason,
00:04:49 we do know there were consequences.
00:04:54 Because of this close relationship with Ahab,
00:04:57 Jehoshaphat felt obligated to support Ahab
00:05:00 in a war against the Syrians.
00:05:03 However, this led to yet another unwise decision.
00:05:09 As they were preparing for this battle,
00:05:12 Jehoshaphat asked for direction from one of Jehovah’s prophets.
00:05:16 Ahab, though, expressed his hatred for the prophet
00:05:20 and, after hearing the prophet’s message,
00:05:22 had him thrown into prison.
00:05:25 At that point, it was decision time for Jehoshaphat.
00:05:31 What did he decide to do?
00:05:34 Although he initially disagreed with Ahab,
00:05:37 he eventually joined him in the battle.
00:05:41 Jehoshaphat disregarded the warning from Jehovah.
00:05:45 But then this led him to still another unwise decision
00:05:50 —this time an incredibly foolish decision.
00:05:54 What happened?
00:05:56 Jehovah’s prophet had foretold
00:05:58 that the Israelites would lose their shepherd, or king, in battle.
00:06:03 So Ahab said that he would disguise himself
00:06:06 and not enter the battle dressed as a king.
00:06:11 He then said that Jehoshaphat should still dress like a king.
00:06:16 Now, just think about that for a moment.
00:06:19 Ahab was basically saying,
00:06:22 ‘You go out into battle with a target on your back,
00:06:25 and I’ll hide in disguise.’
00:06:27 Really?
00:06:29 Jehoshaphat’s decision to agree to do that
00:06:32 was not only unwise but also foolish.
00:06:36 It nearly cost him his life.
00:06:39 So why would he do that?
00:06:42 Insight on the Scriptures says
00:06:44 that perhaps Jehoshaphat didn’t want “to go back
00:06:47 on his original promise to accompany Ahab.”
00:06:51 So maybe he would have lost face
00:06:53 if he backed out of the agreement at that point.
00:06:57 Although Jehoshaphat did survive the battle,
00:07:00 Jehovah sent another prophet to him
00:07:02 to say what’s recorded at 2 Chronicles 19:2:
00:07:08 “Is it the wicked you should be helping,
00:07:11 “and is it those who hate Jehovah you should love?
00:07:15 Because of this the indignation of Jehovah is against you.”
00:07:21 Although Jehovah acknowledged
00:07:23 the good things that Jehoshaphat had accomplished
00:07:26 in other aspects of his life,
00:07:29 Jehoshaphat clearly made some very unwise decisions.
00:07:34 What lessons do we learn from Jehoshaphat’s wrong decisions?
00:07:38 Lesson 1:
00:07:40 Just because we’ve done many good things in Jehovah’s service
00:07:44 doesn’t mean that we’ll always make wise decisions.
00:07:49 Lesson 2:
00:07:51 Making friendships with those who hate Jehovah
00:07:54 can put us under pressure to make other unwise decisions.
00:07:59 Lesson 3:
00:08:01 Even though we may seek Jehovah’s direction,
00:08:05 we must follow it if we want to make wise decisions.
00:08:10 Lesson 4:
00:08:12 If we realize that we’ve made an unwise decision,
00:08:16 don’t keep going in the same course.
00:08:18 Stop and change direction.
00:08:22 These lessons can be summarized
00:08:25 in the words of Proverbs 22:3.
00:08:28 There we’re told:
00:08:30 “The shrewd one sees the danger and conceals himself,
00:08:35 “but the inexperienced keep right on going
00:08:38 and suffer the consequences.”
00:08:41 Yes, we need to see the possible consequences of wrong decisions
00:08:46 and then take action to avoid them.
00:08:50 What were some of the consequences
00:08:52 of Jehoshaphat’s unwise decisions?
00:08:55 It nearly cost him his life.
00:08:58 His oldest son died an apostate.
00:09:01 And later, his daughter-in-law Athaliah
00:09:04 killed all the heirs to the throne except one baby
00:09:08 and set herself up as queen of Judah.
00:09:13 But you might be thinking,
00:09:15 ‘Still, Jehovah viewed Jehoshaphat as a good king.’
00:09:19 Yes, he did.
00:09:21 And it’s encouraging for us to know
00:09:23 that even if we have made some unwise decisions,
00:09:26 it’s possible that Jehovah may still view us as his faithful servants.
00:09:32 Does that mean, then, that our decisions are not so important?
00:09:39 The Watchtower back in 1980
00:09:41 made this interesting comparison.
00:09:44 It used an illustration of two ship captains.
00:09:48 One skillfully maneuvered his ship through a storm,
00:09:51 bringing the vessel and his crew safely to shore.
00:09:55 But the other captain made unwise decisions,
00:09:59 and because of that, he experienced shipwreck
00:10:04 during the same storm, saving only his life.
00:10:07 While both captains escaped with their lives,
00:10:11 the one whose ship remained intact
00:10:13 would certainly enjoy greater happiness and honor, wouldn’t he?
00:10:19 It’s obvious which captain Jehoshaphat was like.
00:10:23 Unlike Jehoshaphat,
00:10:25 surely we’d prefer to be like the successful captain
00:10:29 —the one whose ship remained intact.
00:10:33 How can we make sure that we are like the successful captain?
00:10:38 Back in 2011, the April Watchtower
00:10:43 had a special chart entitled “Steps to Making Good Decisions.”
00:10:48 It listed these steps in making wise decisions:
00:10:54 (1) Avoid being presumptuous.
00:10:58 (2) Do research.
00:11:02 (3) Pray for wisdom.
00:11:05 (4) Make the decision.
00:11:08 (5) Implement the decision.
00:11:10 But then there was an additional step:
00:11:13 (6) Review and adjust.
00:11:18 Why is step 6 listed?
00:11:20 Well, from time to time,
00:11:22 we need to review decisions we’ve already made.
00:11:27 As we do so, perhaps we’ll come to realize
00:11:30 that some of them were not the best decisions.
00:11:35 Can you still be like the successful captain?
00:11:38 Yes, you can!
00:11:39 How?
00:11:40 If you courageously make the needed adjustments.
00:11:45 We must acknowledge that not all decisions
00:11:48 work out exactly as we had planned.
00:11:51 As Ecclesiastes 9:11 reminds us,
00:11:54 “time and unexpected events overtake [us] all.”
00:11:59 So, what should we do if that’s the case?
00:12:03 The same Watchtower of 2011
00:12:06 answers that question for us.
00:12:09 After saying that Jehovah expects us to live up to such decisions
00:12:13 as our dedication and our marriage vows,
00:12:17 it went on to say:
00:12:19 “Most decisions, though, are less weighty.
00:12:23 “A wise person will from time to time
00:12:26 “review the decisions he has made.
00:12:29 “He will not let pride or stubbornness
00:12:32 “prevent him from adjusting
00:12:34 “or even reversing a decision.
00:12:36 “His prime concern is to make sure
00:12:39 that his life course continues to honor God.”
00:12:44 Thinking back to the illustration of the two captains,
00:12:48 at times they may need to reverse a former unwise decision.
00:12:54 That happened during a hurricane back in 1889.
00:13:00 The captain of the British ship Calliope
00:13:03 was anchored in the harbor in Apia, Western Samoa,
00:13:08 when a hurricane started blowing.
00:13:11 Initially, he decided, like all the other captains in the harbor,
00:13:15 to weather the storm where he was.
00:13:18 But as the waves grew in height and the dangers increased,
00:13:22 the captain realized he had made the wrong decision.
00:13:26 What did he do?
00:13:28 He courageously reversed his decision
00:13:32 and headed out to open sea.
00:13:35 It was difficult, but ultimately
00:13:37 he saved himself,
00:13:40 his ship, and the 250 sailors on board.
00:13:44 This bold act of courage entered him into the annals of naval history.
00:13:51 To be like that courageous captain,
00:13:53 at times we need to prayerfully reexamine our past decisions.
00:13:59 These could be decisions about our employment,
00:14:02 entertainment, education, or even where we live.
00:14:07 When we made the original decisions,
00:14:10 they may have seemed wise to us.
00:14:13 But do they still seem that way now?
00:14:17 If we see the dangerous winds of bad consequences
00:14:20 and the frightening waves of disaster approaching
00:14:24 because our decisions were not completely in harmony with Jehovah’s will,
00:14:28 what should we do?
00:14:30 Be like the wise captain.
00:14:32 Don’t worry about losing face.
00:14:35 Be courageous!
00:14:37 Pray for Jehovah’s help, and then take bold action.
00:14:41 Make the changes you need to make
00:14:43 in order to continue to please Jehovah.
00:14:46 In this way, you’ll make the wise decision
00:14:50 —the one that leads to success,
00:14:52 the one that Jehovah will bless.
