Deuteronomy 30:19-20
I call Heaven and Earth to
witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing
and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live. And love
God, your God, listening obediently to him, firmly embracing him. Oh
yes, he is life itself, a long life settled on the soil that God, your
God, promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
Timothy’s
kindergarten class is learning about choices. His teacher has a color
system, with some colors equaling poor choices, while others indicate
excellent options. The ultimate color is blue...and as Timothy’s mother
described it, “I think you have to be close to perfect to get that
one!” One day last week, Timothy got “blue”! Of course, two days
later, he got “yellow” – which equals a warning. I asked him what
happened, and he said, “I was too loud.”
I love that these
children are learning to take responsibility for their choices at such
an early age – and in such a positive manner. They realize that a lot
of what happens to them is of their own doing...that they have options
that bring rewards – and some that result in consequences. They are
experiencing the glory of the “highs” and the accompanying returns...and
the disappointment of the lows – and their penalties.
Some of us
need to go back to kindergarten! If we ever learned about how much God
wants to shower us with His love and blessings – and the correlation
between these and our choices – many of us seem to have forgotten. Too
often, we see God as Someone who stands over us with a whip and a
chair...ready to strike us down for the smallest infraction. We have
such a distorted image of how God operates!
A lot of us fail to
see God as the loving, caring, healing Father that He is...Someone who
wants to give us only good things – but Who also wants us to have the
freedom to make our own choices. Therein lies the problem! I can
almost picture Timothy stomping his foot and furrowing his brow when he
got that "yellow” warning last week. He was probably so frustrated with
himself, because he doesn’t mean to be too loud – he just gets carried
away. Like all children, he often gets caught up in the moment, which
is why there is a “warning” color in between the really good ones and
those that signify a serious problem.
The GOOD NEWS for us is
that God offers us the warmth and safety of His loving arms...via the
blood of Jesus Christ for all of our sins. When we give our hearts to
Jesus, we know that “excellent choices” will bring us immeasurable
blessings from God. There may be a few “warning” colors mixed in...
every day will not be “blue” perfect! But we can dwell in the land of
the “good colors” and experience the healing balm of God’s love, grace,
mercy and forgiveness.
Just like the “color chart” in Timothy’s
kindergarten class represents choices – and associated results, God has
set options and outcomes before each of us. The next step is ours to
take. So how will you choose?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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