Choose Well: Choose God | Ps. Byron Chicken

CHOOSE GOD!

Trading the Sacred for the Secular

One decision. One moment of weakness. One bowl of stew.
 Esau’s choice echoes through history—and challenges us to examine our own.

In this message from the Choose Well series, we explore how shortcuts cost more than we realize, and how choosing God over self leads to life, legacy, and blessing.

📖 Scripture

Genesis 25:24–34

Esau trades his birthright—something sacred—for something temporary. What looks small in the moment creates massive spiritual consequences.

🔑 Main Thought

Every shortcut cuts us short and cuts us out of what God wants to do.

🥣 The Danger of Shortcuts

Shortcuts often tempt us to:

• Choose the easy thing over the good thing
• Choose our way over God’s way
• Choose our solution instead of God’s provision
• Choose the secular over the sacred

Esau satisfied a legitimate hunger in an illegitimate way—and lost far more than he gained.

✝️ Esau vs Jesus

• Esau: Hungry → takes a shortcut → trades his future
• Jesus: Hungry → resists the shortcut → trusts the Father

Jesus shows us what it looks like to choose the sacred, even when it costs us in the moment.

🧭 How to Choose God Daily

Ask one simple question before every decision:

“Will this connect me to God—or disconnect me from Him?”

That question brings clarity to:

• Relationships
• Career choices
• Time, money, and priorities
• Habits, discipline, and self-control

🔥 Sacred vs Secular

• Self-control is sacred; addiction is secular
• Faithfulness is sacred; compromise is secular
• Serving God’s house is sacred; convenience is secular
• Sabbath, generosity, prayer, and worship are sacred

Choosing the sacred keeps God first—even when culture pressures us otherwise.

🙏 A Call to Response

At the start of this year, we have the opportunity to choose better than Esau did.
 We don’t have to be perfect—we just have to choose God.

“God, I choose You.
 I choose the sacred over the secular.”

⛪ Thrive Church
Helping people move towards Jesus.

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