Do I have any real choices as to what my future will be? People keep talking about wars, sickness and crime. Should I just have fun and ignore what's going on around me?
Answers (5)
There is ALWAYS going to be war some place or some country or some country's leader posturing and trying to sound big and bad.
There is ALWAYS going to be some kind of sickness some where.
There is ALWAYS going to be some kind of crime happening some where.
This is Planet Earth. This is not Valhalla. This is not Eden. This is not heaven. It is a planet populated by people with free will. It is not populated by clones who only are nice and charming.
However, those good people exist or we would be living in chaos and like beasts. We have our good hearts and loving souls. If we didn't we'd take the idiots out and just shoot them.
We have free will. We have options. We have choices. We have opportunities. If we choose poorly then we suffer the consequences of our choices. Asking if you should toss away your responsibility and not care and give yourself permission to avoid making well thought out choices and good decisions just so you can behave in an irresponsible manner and blame the rest of the world is disgustingly barbaric.
The rest of the world goes on. The problems come from people like you.
A person would have to live in a vacuum to ignore the things that are going on in today's world. No amount of fun is going to blot it out. A good question we all would do well to ask ourselves is, where is my life heading? We all have freedom of choice. Each person must make his own choice about how he will spend his life.
God, in his own due time will put an end to wars, sickness, and crime. The thing is, when he act, what choice would you have made?
The Bible plainly tells us how we should live. Micah 6:8 says: He has told you, O man, what is good. And what is Jehovah requiring of you? Only to exercise justice, to cherish loyalty, and to walk in modesty with your God.
However, God does not force anyone to serve him. Deuteronomy 30:15 says: "See, I do put before you today life and good, and death and bad. It's your choice.
This world, it's distractions, what people consider " fun" is temporary. Your future is in your hands. Choosing to live according to Godly standards and Bible principles will put you on a course that will lead you to happiness now, and blessings that will last for an eternity.
This curiosity is part of who we are; we naturally yearn for reassurance, certainty, order, and stability. If you could be more certain about the future, you could prepare for it, both physically and emotionally. Professionals who try to predict the future have met with some successes but also many failures. Yet, it is said that God can accurately foretell upcoming events. His Word says: “From the beginning I foretell the outcome, and from long ago the things that have not yet been done.” (Isaiah 46:10). If you have advance knowledge of an approaching hurricane, you can take lifesaving action. You can respond similarly to Bible prophecy. God has announced that huge worldwide changes will come soon. This future is quite different from what many so-called experts. John 17:3. Over eight million people from all nations, languages and cultures have embraced the hope of living on a Paradise on earth where no sickness or death but life everlasting. Revelation 21:3,4. You can have a bright future by taking in accurate knowledge of what the bible really teach. 1 Timothy 3: 16,17. The opportunity is open to you free of charge. Please go to jw.org "Online Library." Also for free downloads, publications or read online.
To understand whether the future is in our hands or not, contemplate a simple question: Why do apples grow on a tree? Is it by faith, by luck or apples are on the tree because of the seeds we planted? So also, whatever is happening in our life today, is depending on the deed we planted. There is nothing like faith or chance. Everything is a design, everything is based on the law of action and reaction. Therefore, while we are not able to control what is happening in our life today, because it is a reaction of our past actions, we have been given an intellect, a willpower to choose our present actions. The deeds we plant today will decide our destiny. Therefore, if you want to just have fun, ignore what is going around, and ignore the law of karma, we can choose to do that. But definitely, we are planting deeds that will make us suffer.