It’s 6:00 am, your alarm goes off, and your first thought is “another day of the same.” You get up, get yourself ready, perhaps you have kids you need to get ready and out the door to school. Maybe you need to walk the dog before you leave for work. Perhaps you have some bills that need to be paid and your bank account is running low. Maybe you have a family function that you know will be super stressful. Maybe your job has no security and you’re not even sure if you’ll have work next week.

In these moments it’s common for us to have the thought: “What does it matter if I ____________________…” You fill in the blank. Maybe it’s a conversation filled with gossip, a complaining rant to a coworker. Maybe it’s an addiction like pornography, your thought life, or some medicating substance. Maybe it’s simply no self-control in your eating habits or the type of language you use.

Often times we feel our little choices don’t matter or have little impact in the face of these difficult, stressful, or impossible situations. If you are reading this I want you to know: They do! Your choices have lasting impact in your life and in the lives around you. Often we can’t see the impact or influence, but I want you to know it is there.

In Hebrews 11 we read accounts of people that made difficult choices in the face of insurmountable odds, little choices that had lasting impact that we are still experiencing. The next chapter starts with this verse:

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares [us], and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of [our] faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

This says that we (just like the heroes mentioned in the chapter before) are also surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. What does this mean? It means we have our own personal cheering section in heaven. They are screaming our names, cheering us on, fighting for us to make the right decisions. Why is this? It is because we are carrying on their legacy! They have a vested interest in our lives. They made sacrifices, they made hard choices, and they paid a price for the grace and power we get to walk in today. And just like them when our lives are over, we will join them, cheering on the next generation to see Heaven invade earth, lives restored and healed, the Glory of God covering the whole earth.

We are no longer living just for ourselves. We are living for those that came before us and for those that are coming after us. Your choices matter!!! It’s time to have a fresh vision for the choices you make every day, whether small or big. These choices steer the course of your life and have lasting impact on your life and legacy.

The promise is that like Jesus we have a prize waiting for us when we complete our race.