YOU GET TO CHOOSE

“‘If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.’ For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”- ISAIAH 1:19-20

When our children were younger, we would often share with them the power of choice. It was simple — if you do well, you get rewarded. If you do wrong, you will suffer the consequences for that action. It didn’t take long for them to realize which choice was better. This lesson still helps to keep them on the right course today.

As we look to the Scriptures we see that God gave the children of Israel a similar choice. “If you are willing and obedient you will eat the good things of the land” (Isaiah 1:19). One would think this is an easy choice to make.

Of course we want the good, the best of the land. However, our sinful nature does not always allow us to choose what is best. We often make the wrong choice.

Before the covenant of grace, it was impossible to keep the law as God required. God knew this but wanted us to understand the difficulty of living life without Him. Under grace, we now can obey in the Spirit’s power. Even if we make the wrong choice, we have the Holy Spirit nudging us to get it right. We have an advocate in Jesus, going before the Father on our behalf, asking that we be pardoned.

Does it mean we willingly take advantage of that grace? Of course not. It simply means that if we choose wrong the first time, we have another chance to choose wisely. If we fail to do so, our consequences will soon help us to get back on track.

Father, guide me daily as I make decisions in my everyday life and relationships. Help me to see clearly the error of my own ways. I admit I need your grace in my life daily in order for me to experience your best. Amen.

Go Deeper — Take a moment to ponder the decisions you have made lately. Have you chosen wisely? Are the challenges you currently face directly linked to your choices?

Megaphones for Christ

There are countless reasons—and countless ways—to praise God and share Him with others.

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Picture this: You’re at a professional football game. There are thousands of people in the stands, all cheering as if their shouts are actually willing their team to victory. Now think about your faith. How many believers do you know who put that same passion and intensity into their relationship with Jesus?

In his letter to the church at Thessalonica, the apostle Paul rejoiced in the young congregation’s passion for telling the world about Christ. Because the city was a busy seaport, he knew that the church there had the ear of the whole world. Travelers would hear the gospel and then take it back to their own communities.

By saying that the word of the Lord had “sounded forth” from the church (1 Thess. 1:8), Paul painted a powerful word picture. In Greek, this verb refers to a sound that projects like a trumpet blast or thunder. So, Paul was praising the Thessalonians for being living megaphones proclaiming Christ.

As followers of Jesus, we have the responsibility of sharing who He is and what He has done. Shout it from the rooftops! Fill entire stadiums with the thunder of your praise! Don’t just show the people around you who your favorite sports team is. Make sure they know who your Savior is, too.

No Ordinary Death

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

John 19:30

The events surrounding Jesus’ death were largely routine motions of Roman jurisdiction. The trials, the beatings, the humiliating procession, and the painful crucifixion were all a part of business as usual for soldiers involved in executing criminals. What wasn’t routine, though, was the darkness that descended over the whole event in the middle of the day (Matthew 27:45), as though God had closed His eyes on the sorrowful scene. This was both a routine execution and the greatest turning point in all eternity.

What made it so important was the identity of the man hanging on the middle cross: none other than God incarnate. Our minds should never cease to be amazed by this:

Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And shut its glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker, died
For man the creature’s sin.[1]

Scripture does not place much emphasis on Christ’s physical sufferings on the cross. He surely did suffer grievous physical pain, but “the sufferings of his body were nothing to the sufferings of his soul; these were the soul of his sufferings.”[2] Jesus fully experienced all of the pain and agony of being separated relationally from God the Father—physically, mentally, and spiritually. Whatever you face in your life, know that Jesus has gone through worse and therefore understands how you feel. Not only that, but the unimaginable anguish He endured was for you. Only when the time was right did Christ triumphantly proclaim, “It is finished”—tetelestai: the debt is satisfied and done with.

Christ’s crucifixion is often portrayed with the cross erected high above the onlooking crowd. In reality, though, once the cross was lowered into its setting, His feet were likely very close to the ground. In the same way, Christ’s life, death, and resurrection do not stand high above our lives but intimately close to them. No, Jesus’ death was no ordinary death, but rather a death that promises to give, through faith, true life. Everything changes when we consider all that took place on that cross and say to ourselves:

Wounded for me, wounded for me,
There on the cross He was wounded for me;
Gone my transgression, and now I am free,
All because Jesus was wounded for me.[3]