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			How Graduates Can Make Wise Decisions
			 
			 
			“O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would 
			consider their latter end!” Deuteronomy 32:29 KJV 
			
   
            
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            [July 08, 2008]  
			
			A 
			pastor friend called and asked for counsel: “A 13 year old girl in 
			my church is from a broken home. Her father left her mother and has 
			been living with another woman. The Dad has joint custody and 
			visitation rights and the girl went to visit him for two weeks. 
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			 While 
			there the father let her do anything she wanted to do. Now the girl 
			wants to stay with her Dad instead of with her Mom who had some 
			rules that protected the girl. The girl and her Mom are coming to 
			talk to me. What can I say to them that will help the girl realize 
			she is really better off with Mom than with Dad?” 
         
			Life is not like a trip with no 
			destination and all we do is cruise around and around. Life is like 
			a trip where the destination should be determined before the trip 
			begins. Then the end of the trip determines the route you take to 
			get there.  
			God told Moses that the Israelites would demonstrate wisdom by 
			considering their “latter end.” 
			 
			A key way to make wise decisions is to know the 
			Bible so well that you know what God says about the wisdom or 
			foolishness of the decision you are making. But another way to make 
			wise decisions is to talk with someone who has lived long enough to 
			know where a particular road of life will lead you if you follow it 
			to its end. The road marked “right” always looks better the further 
			you follow it.
            
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            Life doesn’t lead us where we dream of going. Life leads us where 
			our choices take us. Wise choices are always made by looking at the 
			ultimate end of a decision to see where it comes out. 
			 
			The wisest 
			choice of all is to trust Christ as Savior because the end of the 
			Christian life is heaven and the end of the Christ less life is 
			hell. 
			I said to my pastor friend, “Your only chance is to take the girl 10 
			years out in the future based on whether she lives with Mom with 
			rules or with Dad without rules. Show her where the two paths come 
			out.” The girl wept and chose wisely. She said, “Pastor, I know 
			you’re right. It was just such a great temptation!”  
              
              [S.M. Davis] 
              
               [pastordavis@juno.com] 
            
			  
            
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