The Bible certainly calls upon us to choose. There is no way to avoid making a decision. Even if there is nothing said verbally stating one’s intentions, our actions reveal the choice that we have made.

The Valley of Jehoshaphat. "I will also gather all nations and will bring them down into the valley of Jeshoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations and parted my land. . . Let the heathen be wakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, get you down, for the press is full, the fats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision; for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." (Joel 3:2, 12-14.)

"Jehoshaphat" means Jehovah judges. God proclaimed an assembly where he would judge the heathen nations who were enemies of his people. The valley of decision in this context is not a place where man makes important decisions about life, but it is where Jehovah judges the nations for their actions. Jews and Muslims desired to be buried on the slopes of this valley of Jehoshaphat. Upon the resurrection of the dead, they would be ready to be judged and pass over to heaven on the other side of the valley.

Our valley of decisions is in this life. How Jehovah judges us will depend upon the choices that we have made about Him and about His will.

Joshua demanded of the Israelites before his death, "If it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15.)

Jesus said, "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself." (John 7:17, KJV.) The NIV says, "If anyone chooses to do God’s will. . ."

We all know what the importance choices are that we are called upon to make. Joshua said to the Israelites that their major decision was whether to serve Jehovah or false gods in the land of Canaan. The decision today centers on Jesus Christ, whether we will acknowledge and serve Him as the Son of God. We know what the big decision is for us, but what we stumble over is the process of decision making.

Having the facts before us. All decisions in life are based upon the information that we have before us. If we make decisions based upon insufficient or faulty information, our decisions will be wrong. Christianity is a teaching religion because we must have as much information as possible before us to make wise decisions. Jesus said to his apostles, Go into all the world and teach all nations. Paul wrote, "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also." (2 Tim. 2:2.) "God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, etc." (1 Cor. 12:28.) "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee." (Hosea 4:6.)

Just because we have sufficient information before us does not mean that we will make the right decisions, but it is certain that we cannot make good decisions if we do not have sufficient information. A preacher gave this definition of God’s will: "God’s will is exactly what I would desire too if I knew all the facts."

The Bible declares that we have all that we need to make the decision to serve God and His Son.

Abraham told the rich man in torment, "They (your brothers) have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. He said, Nay, father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. He said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one arose from the dead." (Luke 16:29-31.)

Paul wrote to the Romans that the Jews and Gentiles who rejected God did so "without excuse." (Rom. 1:20, 2:1.) Peter wrote "according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue." (2 Peter 1:3.) "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but the things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." (Deut. 29:29.)

"For the life was manifested and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that you also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you that your joy may be full." (1 John 1:2-4.)

Understanding and caring about the consequences. In the information about God before us, we have included in that what is at stake. We are told that God is holy and man is sinful. Disobedience to God carries severe consequences. Sin is rebellion against God. Yet God is loving, forgiving and desires that none perish. God is not malicious and harsh and vindictive. The cross should forever settle any such charges against our God. It was, in fact, God in the flesh that we nailed to the cross.

Every rational person considers the outcome or the consequences to his behavior. If I do not go to work, the results of that decision are clear to every reasonable person and the consequences are swift. The impact upon your life and your family will begin this Friday! The Bible says that if a man does not work, then neither should he eat. (2 Thess. 3:10.)

If you choose to be a law-abiding citizen and faithful to your family, you will reap the good benefits. If you choose to be unlawful, disobedient, and rebellious against God, you will receive a swift judgment in this life and in the world to come eternal punishment. Jesus said, "These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." (Matt. 25:46.) "Not everyone that says unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 7:21.) Everyone needs to see clearly the consequences of the decisions that one makes.

But not only must we know what the consequences are, but also we must care about the consequences. I am convinced that many people know what can happen and will happen, but they really do not care. You might warn someone by saying, but you will loose your wife and children if you keep on drinking. The person may say, I do not care. Many seem not to care whether they are lost or not. It is possible to loose you ability to care.

Authentic decisions. To let us know that our decisions are acknowledge of God, the Bible speaks of the Lamb’s book of life. It is not a literal book with names written with a quill, but it is a record in the eternal mind of God of the choices that we have made. God knows our decisions about Him. They are our decisions. They are real. They are genuine. They are authentic. God likewise knows any pretensions or false confessions. You know what you have decided, and God knows. We, therefore, must be earnest, sincere, and honest. We cannot deceive God; we can only deceive ourselves.

Authentic decisions are those who come from mature people with ability to understand spiritual concepts. They come after due time for consideration and meditation. Enough information has been given and sufficient time for a thoughtful response. Have you ever noticed that God does not rush us into making a decision? It is not so important how fast you make a decision, but your commitment and resolve is important.

Putting off a decision. There are many ways in which our minds can be deceived concerning decision making. One common deception is for us to convince ourselves that we can just put off making a decision to a later time. If I decide not to enter college after graduating from high school, I have made a decision against entering college for now. If I decide that I will not obey the Gospel, repent of sins, etc., I have decided against that for now. If I do not attend Bible classes or worship assemblies, I have made a decision for now against those things. Like Felix of old, some say, "When I have a convenient season, I will call for thee." (Acts 24:25.) Paul reasoned with him of righteousness, temperance and the judgment to come. When Felix heard this, He trembled, but he also made an authentic decision against God.

Someone has said correctly, You may put off making up your mind, but you cannot put off making up your life. It may be true that you have good intentions to obey later in life, but for now you should understand that your actions of life reveal that your decision is no.

There are many other such deceptions that cloud our judgments. Another common and weighty deception is to shift the discussion away from our responsibility to criticizing God. The issue is not whether God has revealed himself sufficiently because He has. The issue is not that the subject is just too deep and too difficult because we can understand what we need to know. (Eph. 3:4.) The issue is not your parents, your husband or wife and someone else. The central issue is your heart and will. Do not misunderstand---man rejects God because of his pride and lusts!

Jesus said, "This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hates the light, neither comes to the light lest his deeds be reproved. But he that doeth truth comes to the light that his deeds may be manifest that they are wrought in God." (John 3:19-21.)

What stands between a lost person and fellowship with God is man’s own will. This is the same for all of us. Man must submit his will to God. We cannot make one step in the right direction until we are willing to surrender ourselves to God. One of the greatest paradoxes in life is that we win by surrendering. We are blest when we turn the control of our lives over to God Almighty. God does not want to hurt us or harm us. He does not need anything that we have. But we need something that He has and that He is willing to give freely. It is forgiveness and salvation.

Wisdom in decision making. In matters where the Bible has spoken, we are called to explicit obedience. There is much about our lives that demands wisdom gained from studying the Scriptures. We are told to pray for wisdom. God has not treated us as brute beasts, but with great respect as people made in his image. He trusts us. We do have the ability to think and reason. We can make appropriate applications to our lives from God’s Word. Some books of the Bible have been classified as "wisdom literature" and it has been rightly so called. These are books like Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Job and others.

God does not tell us how to deal with every problem and what to do in every situation. God does not have an individual detailed plan for every life. We must use wisdom from above in making decisions in life. James wrote,

"Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness and wisdom. But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descends not from above, but is earthly, sensual and devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, the peaceable, gently, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make for peace." (James 3:13-18.)

God bases his decision in the Valley of Jehoshaphat on what we have decided about His Son and salvation. We then decide our own fate eternally.