Father in heaven, thank You for Your Word that I can use to find my way. Help me know nothing but Christ crucified as I make choices hundreds of times each day. Give me Your strength by Your Holy Spirit to desire to live this way. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Conviction 1And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.—1 Corinthians 2:1-5 There is much talk in Christian circles regarding God’s calling for one’s life. The last time I checked, the average university student changed his or her major six times. I am not sure Christians are very different. We seem to go back and forth on most decisions. What is the problem? Why so much debate and years of angst and waiting and wondering? The solution is not related to career development skills, defining talents, and personality testing. Though these things can help, the true answer to God’s calling in life has to do with one’s convictions. God has designed us to live by conviction. Conviction is the foundation for all of life’s decisions. It is man’s privilege to be the priest of the home and set the convictions or standards for his wife, children, and society directly from God’s Word. Ideally, a wife and the children follow the man’s convictions and “calling,” not the other way around. In Genesis 2, Adam and Eve are in the garden and it is Adam who received the commandment not to eat the fruit from the tree of good and evil. Eve did not receive the commandment because she was not yet even created. It was Adam’s job to hear God’s Word, let God’s Word penetrate his heart, and let it breed conviction to obey. Sadly, Adam heard God’s Word but he did not allow it to form into conviction. The absence of conviction in Adam led him to not protect his wife from death and destruction. Not protecting his wife meant not protecting himself. Adam was to publicly rebuke the serpent and pull his wife away from speaking to the enemy, but as we know, he did neither. Adam was perfect, he had the divine revelation, and he knew the truth. But something was missing, or Adam would have acted differently. Conviction was absent. Eve was approached by the serpent, the temptation was offered, the fruit was eaten, eyes were opened, and sin entered the world. Where was Adam? What happened to his convictions? Men, are you more worried about your career, money, image, personal satisfaction, or investment portfolio? Or are you more focused on developing God-given convictions that penetrate to the core of your being? Life gets a lot easier when we decide what or who we follow and base all decisions on that. Have you decided to let your life and family live with the convictions of Christ? —Jared Cox Journal: · Do I often find myself wavering about making even the smallest decisions? · Have I taken the time to decide what convictions I will follow to guide my decisions each day?