Deuteronomy 30:19

Deuteronomy 30:19

¹⁹I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you life and death, the blessings and the curses; therefore choose life

I know this is going to be an awful serious blog and most people around Christmas time are light hearted and full of joy, and I am also for the most part.  There is, however, a small part of me that every year at Christmas time is reminded of the weighty decision I was called to make when I was 14.  That’s when God put two paths in front of my eyes, two words, cut and dry, black and white, life or death.  For some people it’s a slow fade to death, or a slow ascent towards life.  It’s important to remember that God deals with us all differently and just because your experience was different than mine it doesn’t make mine better or worse, just individual. 

There was nothing slow about my decision and like all the other times God as spoken to me it was blunt and to the point.  Maybe that’s because I don’t like being serious, I take everything lightly, so He has to be a little more stern with me.  I don’t know why He does things the way He does, but I trust Him. 

To be honest with you I had started going to church because my friend told me there was cute boys.  I went on and off with her for two years and there came the day when God confronted my heart.  I remember so well because just before that day I had been talking to a friend about the hole I felt in my life, in my body, what I called a ‘dad shaped hole’.  I didn’t realize then that the hole I was longing to have filled couldn’t be filled by any man, God was the only one that could heal that hurt. 

That day He put before me two paths, one of light, peace, joy, and life.  It was a life where I gave my whole heart to the Lord.  The second was one of statistics.  I’ve said it before, it’s sort of my catch phrase, I’m not a statistic I’m a success story.  The path to death, the second path, before me that day was one of drug abuse, alcoholism, sexual immorality, and intellectual decay.  It was the path I was statistically more likely to take.  I’ve been proud for many years to say I am not a statistic, I chose and still choose daily the first path, the path of life. 

That day God immediately began to patch up the hole in my vessel.  Why was that so important?  Because God is not an idiot, He’s actually quite the smarty pants.  He knows that if He pours fruit into a vessel with a hole in it that the fruit will fall out the bottom and be wasted.  God’s will is going to be done, if not by you He’ll find someone else.  So when we make the choice, when we choose life, He begins to patch up our hole or for some put back together a broken life. 

¹⁶And no one puts a piece of cloth that has not been shrunk on an old garment, for such a patch tears away from the garment and a worse rent (tear) is made.

¹⁷Neither is new wine put in old wineskins; for if it is, the skins burst and are torn in pieces, and the wine is spilled and the skins are ruined. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.

Matthew 9:16-17

The most fascinating and moving part to me about this process is that He doesn’t pick up the old pieces and reuse them, He patches up our holes and pieces us back together with new clay, clay made with the blood of Christ.  Sometimes God puts us back together instantly and begins using us as vessels to carry His fruit wherever He needs it to go, but that was not the case for me.  It was a slow, and sometimes painful, process to patch up my gapping hole.  Why?  I think because had He done it quickly and began using me I would have grown haughty and proud, He searched my heart, I trust Him.  Once it was all patched up He began to fill my heart with things I hadn’t understood or ever known.  Where before there was chaos He gave me peace, for anger He gave me forgiveness, for fear He gave me faith, for hate He gave me love, and for loneliness He gave me Himself.  It took a long time to get to the point where my vessel could be used, and I’ve had to get up every morning and choose life over death, Christ over flesh.  There is nothing easy about Christianity, but it is always worth it.

That same choice is before you right now, life or death.  There is no gray here, there is no middle ground, it is all or nothing.  If you don’t give Him you’re all He can’t patch your holes or repair your broken pieces, and He won’t pour fruit into a broken vessel.  If you’re living in the world, if you’re waited to give Him your whole heart, if you think you have the right to your tomorrows, make the decision today.  Change courses and let God move in you’re life. 

If you had someone in your life who was to tell you they loved you but all the while they openly flirted, and dated other people right in front of you would you feel loved?  Would you feel important?  Would you stick around?  Luckily God is not man, He is going to stick around, but if you are flirting with sin, if you are dating the world, He sees and He longs for you to turn to Him.  He longs for you to love Him whole hearted, for you to view Him as the most important.  He cares more about you than anyone else ever can, I know you hear Him calling to you, I know you see the paths before you.  Choose you this day Life.