You can make the best of a bad situation – they make diamonds out of coal.

James said it a little different:

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. _{James 1:2-4 from The Messsage}

(On a side note: Have you seen the prizes inside Cracker Jack boxes lately? Pitiful. I remember getting rings inside the boxes that we would then promptly give to a girl that we kind of liked….I digress….)

Back to my story…

I broke open the cookie and as I placed a piece in my mouth, I read the fortune -

“You can’t choose how you will die, but you can choose how you will live.”

I thought about that for a moment. I suppose, outside of a small percentage of people who actually take their own life, most of us will not have a choice about how we die, but the choices we make on a daily basis affect the rest of our lives. Even some of the most seemingly inconsequential choices we make could save our life.

Most of us have heard of the story of the guy who was late for flight 91 on Sept. 11. He didn’t make the flight. He’s still alive. One day, I took a wrong turn onto the interstate. It meant the long way around Omaha but I kept going. As I neared the intersection of the interstate that I was supposed to be on, I noticed that it was backed up for miles. I cruised on by.

There is one decision that you have to make that will affect you beyond death.

What do you believe about Jesus?

Your answer to that question will not only affect you here on earth, but it will affect you for eternity.

On the back of the fortune, was a Chinese word: Peng-you, when translated, means friend. So, I ask you, peng-you, do you choose Jesus?

Want to talk about this some more? Send me an email or leave a comment…