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\u201cFor this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, \u2018Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?\u2019 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, \u2018Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?\u2019 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it\u201d (Deuteronomy 30:11-14).<\/p>\n
IF WE\u2019RE STILL ALIVE, THEN IT\u2019S WITHIN OUR POWER TO MAKE WHATEVER CHOICE GOD WOULD WANT US TO MAKE. No matter how many wrong choices we\u2019ve made in the past, we have the freedom to make the right choice now. Outwardly, it may take time to reverse the damage our past choices have wrought, but inwardly, we can at this very moment begin being the person that we know God wants us to be. The positive choice is possible!<\/p>\n
Sometimes we feel we\u2019ve done so badly for so long that there is no hope for us. But this sinking sense of hopelessness comes from hell, not from heaven. It\u2019s only our enemy who wants us to give up. Our Father wants us to live. He wants us to take the simple, honest step that it\u2019s always possible to take: the one immediately before us.<\/em> If we choose to take that step, there is nothing the devil can do to stop us, although he\u2019d surely like to do so.<\/p>\n But it does us little good to have the power of choice if we don\u2019t use it. We shouldn\u2019t waste the marvelous dignity and honor God conferred on us when He gave us our freedom of will. His grace toward us should not be \u201cin vain\u201d (1 Corinthians 15:10).<\/p>\n One encouraging thing to keep in mind is that each positive choice creates strength. If we choose in the present moment to do what is right, we\u2019ll find the next moment much easier to deal with. Every good decision leads to another. We\u2019ll be helped by a favorable momentum that makes our forward progress less difficult.<\/p>\n Whatever our choices may be, God is not neutral about them. Having gone to great lengths to save us, He wants us to choose life. If we fail to choose it, He\u2019ll have to let justice be carried out, of course. But that will break His heart. \u201c\u2018For why should you die, O Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,\u2019 says the Lord God. \u2018Therefore turn and live!’\u201d (Ezekiel 18:31,32). Today, we can turn. This very instant, we can say yes to life.<\/p>\n \u201cAt any moment in life we have the option to choose an attitude of gratitude, a posture of grace, a commitment to joy\u201d (Tim Hansel).<\/p>\n Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n