I attended a memorial service yesterday for the grandfather of some friends of mine. I was struck again with the thought that we have no control over the day we are born or the day we will die–the dates always recorded on the program and in obituaries. God alone has control over those dates. He decides when and where we’ll be born and when and where we’ll die.

Not to negate God’s sovereignty, but we get to decide on all the days in between. We get to choose what we’ll do and where we’ll go. We have control over our thoughts, our words and our actions. We get to decide on how we’ll spend our money, how we’ll treat other people and what we’ll do with our time.

We can choose to read the Bible or watch television. We can speak encouraging words to a friend or gossip about them. We can help feed the homeless or fill our storage units with more stuff.

We get to decide.

Tomorrow would have been my dad’s 78th birthday. He died a little over five years ago. He was a good man. He chose to be generous, kind and giving. He chose to be faithful to my mother for thirty-five years before her death. He chose to love his new wife with all his heart. He chose to be a great dad to my sister and me.

It couldn’t have come easy for him though.

My dad once described his own father as “a mean man.” My grandfather, whom I never knew, chose not to attend my dad’s football games. He didn’t encourage my dad or congratulate him after he was the first in his family to graduate from college. Apparently, my grandfather chose to be selfish, angry and bitter.

I know that left some wounds in my dad’s soul. It had to. But my dad didn’t let that stop him from being a good man. He chose to be different. He chose to be everything his own father wasn’t.

He decided his life would be different.

What are you deciding today?

For some of us, it’s easy to blame our parents for things we don’t like about ourselves. Or we can let our past mistakes hinder how we live today. We may look at our current circumstances and conclude things are as good as they’re going to get. And if things aren’t very good–that can be a very discouraging, even depressing conclusion.

You can choose though. You get to decide. You can change. You can be different.

If you don’t like who you are or where you are or what you’re doing, then do something about it.

Let me suggest two things you can do right now that will change everything. Two things that will set you on a course to experience God and all He has for you.

I was going to say these two things will not cost you anything, but that’s not right. The truth is that they will cost you everything. They will cost you control of your life.

In Ephesians 5, Paul said, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”

The first thing is to surrender control of your life to God and be filled with His Spirit, to be controlled by Him. Let Him teach you. Let Him lead you. Let Him direct the course of your life. Let Him be the center of your life, your relationships and your work.

Just as a drunk person is under the influence of alcohol, a person filled with the Holy Spirit is influenced by Him.

God created you and He is the author of life. Because He is also good and loving, He knows best how you should live. It just makes sense to give Him control. It is not just a suggestion or good idea. It is God’s will for you to be filled with His Spirit.

The second thing is from Colossians 3 where Paul wrote, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…”

This life is a process of becoming more and more like Jesus and learning to think like He does. That’s not natural. It’s supernatural. And it requires generous amounts of time in His word, the Bible.

My natural inclinations are to follow the ways of this world. That means I want to live by sight, not by faith. I want to do what brings me the most security, comfort and pleasure.

God’s ways are different though. He is pleased by faith and so He wants me to trust Him even when things don’t make sense. He wants me to find my security, comfort and pleasure in Him, regardless of my circumstances.

Unless I invest time in His word, I do not learn His methods and ways. I do not discover how He worked in the lives of people in history. I don’t understand what’s on His heart.

Romans 12:1-2 says it like this:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

In other words, based on who God is and all He has done for you, surrender yourself to Him. It’s the spiritual (logical, reasonable) thing to do. Don’t follow the ways of this world–they’re contrary to God’s way of doing things. Instead, become more like Him and learn to think about life the way He does. Only then will you discover His good, pleasing and perfect will.

Offer yourself to God. Tell Him you want Him to be in control of your life.

Set aside time to be in His word so you can learn to think like He does and choose what He wants for you.

Then leave the results to Him.

You can’t do anything about the day you were born. And you don’t get to decide the day you’ll die.

But you can choose what to do today.