“So fear the LORD and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD alone. But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.”
After living with quadriplegia for a short time, I finally got tired of being fed at our dinner table. But as I tried to feed myself with paralyzed arms, I felt like giving up. I wanted my arms back! Wasn’t there an easier way than having a bent spoon inserted into the pocket on my leather arm splint, then straining my weak shoulder muscles to scoop food on the spoon, and finally balancing and lifting it to my mouth? It was humiliating to have my food land more times on my lap than in my mouth.
I could have surrendered—it would have been easy, and many wouldn’t have blamed me. But I had to make a choice—was I going to let disappointing failures overwhelm me? I decided that fighting through the awkwardness of feeding myself outweighed the fleeting satisfaction of self-pity. It pushed me to pray, O God, help me with this spoon! Today I can easily feed myself. No, I didn’t recover the use of my hands, but I was able to leave self-pity behind, as well as cultivate a little bit of humility. It meant making the hard choice many, many times.
My growth in Christ can probably be boiled down to one word: choose. Choosing the right path is hard. Often we have to keep pushing through failures. Sometimes it seems easier just to ignore God’s instructions. But Proverbs 8:10 says, “Choose my instruction rather than silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.”
Reflect:
Meditate on Joshua 24:15 and Proverbs 8:10. How can you make your “choice” more evident in your daily life, even amid suffering or hardship?
Pray:
Use this prayer from Joni (or your own words) to express yourself to God: “Father, every day is filled with so many choices. Touch my awareness, open my eyes, and quicken my understanding to the eternal implications of seeking your heart and choosing your path.”
While we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
We’ve got little information on Jesus’ appearance and personality. But that’s the way God designed it.españolFrançais
The plan would organize UMC churches in four global regions, with each given more leeway around same-sex marriage and other theological issues.
