A Singular Resolution

I could sell tickets to the prize fight in my mind. Endless choices pummel my thoughts. I hang punch-drunk on the ropes in a stupor.

A life of freedom in Christ seems concealed somewhere amid the alternatives. We fight the pugilism of satan, the world, and the smallness of our thinking. We juke around with itsy bitsy choices which merely perpetuate an itsy bitsy existence. Strategies of marketing leave us stranded in aisles and choosing between low-fat and whole-grain. Strategies of media shipwreck us with technology as we send strangers the snapshots and sayings of our so-called lives.

God guides us beyond the ring, instructing us to filter the myriad of choices by this Word – life or death. “’Today I invoke Heaven and earth as a witness against you that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you’” (Dt 30.19; 11.26; Ps 119.30, 173).  Each decision results in either repentance and rest (Dt 12.10-12, Josh 23.1, 1 Kings 5.4) or rebellion and restlessness (Dt 4.24-31; 30.1-6, 9). “Therefore choose life.”

After making a decision, we manage it through communion with the Triune God – that is loving and holding fast to Him as we obey His voice (Dt 30.20). The Spirit points us to Scripture and intercedes for us (Jn 16.13; Rom 8.26-27). Christ offers rest for our souls (Mt 11.28-30). As we trust and delight in God, dwelling where He plants us, befriending faithfulness, and committing our ways to Him (Ps 37.3-5), the angst of awaiting outcomes transforms into hope (Rom 8.18-25).

Friends, let us make a singular resolution: choose life and communion with God. We can exit the arena and cease shadowboxing. Christ calls us into the expanses of His love, liberty, and lordship where we truly live.