Thought for Today
Joshua 24:15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."
Jeremiah 31:33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Mark 8:34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
Acts 12:8 The angel said to him, "Fasten your belt and put on your sandals." He did so. Then he said to him, "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me."
A dear friend of many years commented on yesterday’s Thought, “I believe God has a plan for each of us but we have free will and can choose our path. When we choose wrongly, there are consequences. I think we are seeing that in our country now. The Word says, ‘If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land.’” I agree wholeheartedly.
All of our thoughts, words and actions have consequences. All of our failures to think, speak and act have consequences. As Christians, we know the words of Paul, “Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—” Paul was speaking about our salvation, our place in eternity. Paul was not advocating for license in our lives here and now. In life and in death, we must deal with the consequences of our own thoughts, words and acts. We are saved, we are forgiven, but we must still deal with cleaning up the mess we have made. As Christians, we know that God will be right there with us as we do so, offering the strength and support we require.
All of God’s children are called constantly to answer Joshua’s challenge, “choose this day whom you will serve.” I believe we are all called to choose, to serve. All of God’s children, if we listen diligently, will hear Jesus’ call to “Follow me.” The specifics of how and where we answer that call may vary throughout our lives. I follow now in a different fashion than I did as an engineer. But, I still must choose, I still have the free will to opt not to follow Jesus.
I cannot fully explain all of the details of God’s plan. We all encounter issues, ideas and even events that seem mysterious in terms of God’s plan. I do know that Jesus taught us to pray about God’s plan in terms of our own lives. I believe that ultimately, God’s plan is for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Full realization of that will herald the completion of the Kingdom of God.
To answer the ‘eternal question’ of every journey, “Are we there yet?” the answer is no. Not Yet! Since the birth of Jesus, since the Incarnation, there have been what I understand to be ‘kingdom moments.’ There have been and continue to be times and incidents where we do witness God’s will being done here on earth. Peter’s response to the command of God’s angel in Acts was a kingdom moment.
Every one of God’s children hastens the arrival of the kingdom when our thoughts, words and actions illuminate Jesus’ answer to the lawyer’s question, “Luke 10:25 . . .’ what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ . . . 26 ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ 27 He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.’"
We can call it the Law of Love. We can try to put boundaries around what and who we are called to love. We can postulate exceptions. Ultimately, we must respond, we must choose how to answer Joshua’s challenge. We can choose to follow. We can choose to pursue some other path. If we choose some other path, we suffer the consequences. If we follow Jesus, if we choose to serve “the Lord,” we reap the joy of hastening the arrival of the Kingdom of God. Whichever way we individually choose, God’s plan which began with Creation will ultimately result in God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven, the Kingdom of God.
Stay safe, exercise your free will wisely, trust God,
Pastor Ray