“Choose life then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord your God, heeding to His voice, and holding fast to Him.” – Deuteronomy 30:15 – 20
Sounds easy, right? Love God, obey what He says in His word, and believe. But the most challenging word in that scripture is CHOOSE.
We all want the good life. We all want to be successful and to know that prosperity will flow to us and our children. The Bible tells us that is our birthright as children of God to prosper, but then comes life and the temptations which involve choice. We are faced with the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life that has been tripping up mankind since the garden (1 John 2:16).
Sure, we love God. I bet if you asked 99% of believers if they love God, they would say yes without any hesitation; but what does love really mean? When we love someone, we want to please them. If we want to please a parent, we do so by obeying them, even when we don’t like or understand why they’re asking or telling us to do what they want us to do.
The basis of any loving relationship is trust. Do we trust God even when things don’t turn out the way we thought they should? I can’t begin to tell you the number of people I talk to who say, “I prayed and did what I was supposed to do and nothing happened.” They conclude that maybe God didn’t listen to them, or even worse, doesn’t love them. Although we may sometimes feel abandoned by God, let me challenge you with something. Does a good parent gives their kids everything they want when they want it? If we’re honest, we would have to say no. Being older and wiser, we take into consideration what is in the best interest of our children and weighing all factors, we sometimes say “not now,” and sometimes we say no. Our decision has nothing to do with not loving our children. Even if we had the means to do what they want, we may choose not to because we know our child, and perhaps they are not ready for what they are asking for. My mother used to say something that I came to appreciate only after I had my children. As she declined a request of mine, she would say, “I see dangers you don’t see.”
Sometimes love says no, but if we remain obedient and trust the possibility that our parents know best – and we love them even when the answer is no – good things will come. Sometimes there are even better things – things beyond what we asked for or could have even imagined – awaiting us.
Here’s a not-so-new newsflash: God is our parent. He loves us and does not want us to be denied any of the good things that He has prepared for us. But like with our own parents, there are conditions. God’s conditions are that we love Him, obey Him, and trust Him. All of these things involve denying our flesh, which wars against us constantly. It means we have to tune out the attacks that come from the enemy and bombard us in many forms; and we must choose to follow the way that leads to abundant life.
As a friend of mine used to tell me when I chose to give my life to Christ, “It’s tight, but it’s right.”
When we make the decision to choose life, we are choosing the path to abundant life.
Peace and Blessings,
Gail