Choose...Life

Deuteronomy 30:19b-20a, ...Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him.  For the LORD is your life...

Joshua 24:15, But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.

Psalm 27:1, The LORD is my light and my salvation -- whom shall I fear?  The LORD is the stronghold of my life -- of whom shall I be afraid?

Galatians 2:20, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 

Colossians 3:3, For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

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Life
Choosing Life

Easy to type so much harder to do, huh?  I was reminded of some verses that I came across when my children were very small this morning, Deuteronomy 30:19-20.  In looking at it further, I find that it means much more than simply a choice between physical life and death (blessing and cursing) such as in the context of the Old Testament, but much more because of Jesus, we must choose whether or not we are going to trust in the Life He provides for us.  The choice is focused not on "Will I obey God or not?"; but on "Will I trust in Jesus for my standing before God?"  Jesus said, He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters, Luke 11:23.  And Jesus is still asking the question, 'Who do you say that I am', Matthew 16:15. (From the commentary by David Guzik)

I am not a scholar but this intrigued me.  As I said as a young mom I came across these verses and I so wanted to 'Choose Life' so that my children and I could live and that we would love the Lord our God, listen to His voice and hold fast to Him.  Knowing that He is our life.  This has been and is my greatest desire for myself, my husband and my children.  I so want us to choose life, to choose Jesus as our life and yet it is such a hard choice, not salvation so much but the daily living of that choice!  My passion and desire has been to teach my children how to choose Jesus, to choose that life that only He can give.  Honestly I can care less how 'successful' they are in this world...truly.  Of course I want them to work hard and do well, but if they spend all their time pouring into the things of this world then they have completely missed the entire point of their lives.  We are here to have relationship with Christ, to point others to Him and bring Him glory.  This is my desire and yet I so often get my priorities mixed up and confuse myself with busyness and with stuff; not too mention confusing them with expectations and such.  

I have prayed many times and am reminded again this morning to pray that my family and I will choose life, Jesus...that we will love the LORD (with all our heart, soul, mind and strength), that we will listen to His voice and hold fast to Him...that He will be our LIFE!

To choose life is much more than an intellectual decision, it is a determination, a depending upon Him that results in a heart decision.  We must recognize Him intellectually but it must go so much farther.  To choose life is to breathe, consciously aware of Him, to surrender our own agendas and be willing to obey His will.  Thus the difficulty as it is often so easy to say, 'why yes, I choose Jesus, I choose life' and yet by our actions we are sometimes saying something far different.  I fall so short.  And yet the beautiful part is that He is the one who provides the life, I cannot earn it, I cannot grow it, I cannot control it; He does!  What a relief, those tiny moments when I grasp this truth brings such peace, such hope, truly He brings LIFE!

Now as a parent, I want my children to live, to have abundant life, but there is no abundant life outside of Christ, none!  Why would I want to spend all of my time pushing my kids toward academics, toward sports, toward whatever and miss the point that I am to point them toward Jesus Christ and there they will have abundant life, there He will make room for all the pieces that make up their lives, education, sports, careers, love etc... but Him first and foremost.  I get so distracted by the things of this life, by the opinions of others, by the efforts to succeed and make sure my children are prepared for life!  What???  I want my children...I want myself to be prepared for eternal life!  I want to focus on Christ and do what is important to Him.  I have gotten off track so many times; I have allowed the pressures of this world to almost squeeze the very life that He has provided out of me!  Thankfully it cannot be removed because once I belong to Jesus, I am His, period (John 10:28).
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So when my children were small I (my husband and I) did my best to point them to Jesus, to choose whom we would serve but there comes a day when like myself they each much decide whom they will serve, who will fill their lives!  Please God, guide them to chose Jesus!

It doesn't stop there with the choice though, we must love God.  How?  By listening to His Voice!  But wait a minute how do I even recognize His Voice?  By getting into His Word, by asking Him to help you as His child to recognize His Voice, by falling in love with Him!  We do not fall in love with Him or anyone else by simply making a statement one day that I chose to love God.  It only begins there with the choice to respond to His invitation to have our lives hidden with Christ in God, to be 'crucified with Christ' so that I no longer live but that He lives in me!  I must continue to choose.  I must get into His Word and put forth effort for that love to stay kindled and not just a tiny ember.

I choose life - I choose to love Him because He first loved me (1 John 4:19) - I must then learn to recognize His voice (again by getting to know Him through His Word, by going to church, by worshipping Him, through prayer) and chose to listen to Him (this is often the hardest part as I so want to talk sometimes I forget to listen) - and then I must chose to hold fast to Him!  Now He will never let me go as I already mentioned, but I too have a responsibility to hold on to Him!  We will be tested, we will be tried... you know it, you have experienced it just as I have, but how determined are we to choose life?  Our choice, our decision, our effort...

Did you see Psalm 27:1?  The LORD is my light and my salvation, THE STRONGHOLD OF MY LIFE, whom shall I fear???  We do not have to fear ANYTHING or ANYONE in this life!  Whoa!  I don't know about you but I want to choose Jesus, His life!  I want to live in such a way that I walk with Him more in His light and less in the darkness of my old self and nature.  I want to live in the reality of His truth that He is Life and not only is He Life, but He is MY LIFE!  He is my light and my salvation! He can be yours as well!!!

Oh LORD, please help me to choose Your life in the dailyness of my life!  I know I am saved by Your blood, by Your death, burial and resurrection, but please help me to walk in the reality of this life that You have for me regardless of bumps in the road, walls that I run in to or times that I fall...may I keep my eyes on You and off the circumstances and things around me.  I so often fail at this, LORD.  Forgive me for being so easily distracted.  For being so easily tricked into trying so hard again and not being still, not resting in You and the truth of all that You are.  Forgive me for the ways in which I have shown my children wrongly by choosing my own ways and trying to be in control rather than using my energy to hold fast to You, to know Your voice, to love You and obey.  May You reveal Yourself to them in spite of me and may they hunger for You in such a way that truly they want Your life and Yours alone.  May I do the same.  Forgive me for 'hungering' for the approval of others, the appearance that I am 'godly' or that I have the 'answers.'  Forgive me for being a stumbling block to myself and others, God.  May I choose life moment by moment and point to You regardless of myself.  Forgive me for giving in to fear and allowing other things to build strongholds in my life rather than allowing You to be THE STRONGHOLD OF MY LIFE!  Change me, transform me, please God, do not allow me to continue down the same paths but may I look to You and grow in You.  Hide me in Christ, God.   LORD BE MY LIFE!  Thank You for Your faithfulness, Your forgiveness, Your mercy, Your grace, Your hope, Your peace, Your very presence God!