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The Power of Choice

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If you know me at all, you know that I have a love for baking, among many other things.  And for 14 years, I have used the same pot holder that I received as a wedding gift.  This thing is completely worn, has torn edges, and is very outdated in its style.  Several months ago, I purchased a new set of pot holders as I began to be concerned with the safety of the old one.  But still to this day, I find myself reaching for that tattered, red pot holder.  Every time.  It’s what is familiar.  Probably even comfortable.  But, it is also an accident waiting to happen.

Yesterday, I was reading and came across 2 Peter 3:17-18.  It says ” I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends.  Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing.  Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”.  When I hear the word “grow”, I immediately think of plants.  Now, I don’t claim to have a green thumb, but I have never seen a plant remain the same.  It  has 2 choices.  It can either grow or die. No in between.  No days off.  It is either working to flourish and mature, or it is beginning to wither and decay.

Just like a tree or plant, we too are faced with those options.  It is truly life or death.  The blessing or the curse (Deuteronomy 30:19).  And just like continuing to use a pot holder that is old and hazardous, we often revert back to what is comfortable and known.  So many times, God in His grace and mercy, sets us free from things and we retreat back to the same patterns that got us in trouble to begin with.  The Bible talks about a dog returning to its vomit.  A gross, yet accurate picture of what we often do.  It really is the small, seemingly insignificant decisions that set the trend for our future and success.  It’s the daily watering that pushes us to grow.  It is no coincidence that the Bible stresses to work at our salvation and to not take it for granted.  If we are not making room for Him in the smallest areas of our lives, why should we expect to see His hand at work in the bigger ones.  He is a jealous God.  He wants all of us.

I fear that we have so many things backwards in this day and time.  We use God as a last resort.  We go to church when we please, believing that we are doing Him some sort of favor.  We ignore His voice and even the signs around us, and then wonder why we are in the condition we’re in.  We twist His Word to justify our sin and the lifestyles we are comfortable with.  We have removed our life support, yet we’re shocked that we can’t breathe.  God is not an addition to our lives.  He’s it.  And the only thing at stake, is not the present world, but the one to come.  Nothing matters if we don’t get that right.  This earth will eventually pass away, but eternity is just that…..an eternity.  The choice is ours.

Time is short.  The day of the Lord is near.  Choose this day who you will serve.