Text: Acts 19:23-41
By Bro Marvis Kaine
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As Christians, we make decision every day for some it comes “while still in bed” should I get up or hit the snooze button”, walking along the road, at work or the market and everywhere you find yourself. Our lives are shaped by our decisions.
Decision (noun) is a choice that you make about something after thinking about several possibilities. It is the act or process of deciding a determination arrived at after consideration.
Rash means something done or said too fast. While Rash decision is a decision made without consideration of the consequences. A rash decision is one where the results are not thought out ahead of time, and the results are usually not very good or beneficial to everyone involved.
If you are rash, you do things too quickly, without thinking carefully about whether they are sensible or not and as is evident in our text Acts 19:23‐37 the making of a riot.
It all started by a certain man (Demetrius) a silversmith (one who crafts objects from silver) and his fellow workmen who feared that Christianity would affect or impact their income. They stirred the public with the fear of loss of income and fear of a lost way of life. The fear spread through the city even when people did not understand what was going on. The people shouted an essentially meaningless slogan for two (2) hours.
Fortunately the town clerk was able to calm the people down by getting them to think and same apply to us as Christians.
We often face people or situations who desire to pressure us into making a quick decision like sales people. Currently trending is the “Black Friday week” by online sales store. They tell you that a particular product is only available for a limited time, that the prices can’t be guaranteed that there are others waiting to buy this particular item and most of the time buyers just ordered without understanding the terms and condition only to find out that such products cannot be returned after purchase.
False teachers also look for ways to stir up their followers. Between august and October 2017 there was this acclaimed coming to an end of the world and false teachers used it as opportunity to milk their unsuspecting followers.
“the imminent return of Jesus Christ”, the world is going to come to an end and some often go to the length of selling sparkling waters to their members for business success, against satanic attack and a few to mention.
People who make quick decisions frequently make wrong decisions, they don’t take time to gather facts they don’t consider other possible alternatives.
WAYS FOR AVOIDING RASH DECISION
Children of God must try as much as possible to avoid acting rashly and the following but a few to mention are ways to avoid acting rashly.
GATHER YOUR FACTS:
This simply means collecting information or facts about something before acting. Prov. 13:16.
“Every prudent man deals with knowledge but a fool (self‐confident) exposes and flaunts his folly”. AMP
A panic situation does not allow time to gather information. Acting without knowledge leads to error. Prov. 19:2‐
“Desire without knowledge is not good and to be over hasty is to sin and miss the mark” Amp
Prudence demands that we seek out information. Prov. 18:15‐
“The mind of the prudent is ever getting knowledge and the ear of the wise is ever seeking knowledge”. Amp
BE CAUTIOUS
To be cautious is to be careful to avoid potential problems or dangers. Just because something sound reasonable at the moment doesn’t mean it is. Prov. 14:15‐16.
“simpleton believes every word he hears but the prudent man looks and consider well where he is going.16 a wise man suspects danger and cautiously avoid evil” Amp.
The naive (one with lack of experience or wisdom) ignores the evil in front of him‐ Prov. 22:3
“A prudent man sees evil and hide himself but the simple pass on and are punished” amp
Don’t reveal everything you know ‐ Prov. 12:23
“A prudent man is reluctant to display his knowledge but the heart of the fools proclaim their folly amp”.
DON’T MAKE DECISION WHILE ANGRY
Anger may flare up in our lives, but we must be careful of what we say or do when angry. It is best to avoid anger and making decision when angry.one who is angry may do or say sinful things. Eph. 4:26‐27, 31
We should therefore be watchful of uprising of unholy emotions and fretful passions, which may lead to flushes of bad tempers. Eccl 7:8‐9.
Plan
Decisions should be well thought out in advance. Prov. 21:15
“The thoughts of the diligent tends only to plenteousness but of every one that is hasty only to want” NKJV
Possible problems should be considered before they arise. You want to avoid making a hasty decision. It won’t save you in every case, but it will minimize difficulties. For example; what would do if you lost your car? What will you do if your shop burnt down?
Many would panic, but if you have a rough ideal of the things you needed to do, bad decisions could be avoided. Meditate on your bed, think about God, His righteousness and things you need to do to please Him. It is a lesson we are to learn from the ant ‐ Prov. 6:6.
Forethought we often reveal that things need to be done in a different order. Prov. 24:27
Sometimes in our eagerness to have people saved, we unwittingly press them into an ill‐considered decision.
Also we are not to be hasty in our approach to God. Eccl 5:1‐2
“Keep thy foot when thou goes into the house of God and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifices of fools for they consider not that they do evil.2 be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few”.
As people, we must weigh the cost of being a Christian ‐ Luke 14:26‐33
Conclusion
Christianity is not a religion of convenience but of commitment. It is an important decision that cannot be put off and cannot be made rashly. It takes knowledge, forethought and planning to be acceptable to God.
May God Almighty bless this words in our hearts in Christ name Amen.
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