The Choice

Jeremiah 18:1-6 -- 2 Corinthians 1:12-22 -- 1 John 1:5-2:6

The Choice. Should I stay or go? Talk or remain silent? Paper or plastic? For here or to go? Smoking or non-smoking? Fresh or frozen? Hillary or Barack? Huckabee or McCain? Ron Paul, anyone? Toasted or plain? Cable or satellite? We are bombarded each and every day with a multitude of choices. Some significant, some trivial, some too difficult to ever have to decide.

At times, I have called myself "the Queen of indecision." I often have a tendency to over-analyze things. I try to look at things from a million different perspectives imagining how my decision might effect someone else--never considering how my lack of a decision might effect others. Then, there are other times, when I make decisions too quickly--too impulsively, and I then suffer the consequences far too long.

Hereth said today in Listening to Lent, "God binds us to himself with forgiveness...But suffer God does, in order to have us be his." How that must be true. God loves us so much and forgives us time and time again. God's mercies are new every morning, but what of our mercies? What of our forgiveness? Far too often we are more like Adam and Eve--blaming others for our mistakes. Far less often are we like the psalmist who confesses and then receives forgiveness. We like to justify our actions. However, the scripture from 1 John challenges us to live in the light.

As I've written this post, I keep going back to the title of the day and 1 John 2:6. The New Revised Standard Version says, "whoever says, 'I abide in him,' ought to walk just as he walked." And, I guess that's the choice, isn't it. We so often talk of Jesus living in us, but this text talks about us living in him. I'll close with a really beautiful prayer that I read a few weeks ago from A Guide to Prayer for All God's People. It seems most appropriate.

"My God, in all the great and small choices I will make this day, be in my heart and in my choosing that I may come to day's end knowing I have chosen wisely--for you. Amen."