Disclaimer:
This post waffles on and gets very stuck in places I wasn't expecting.
It is not altogether uplifting.
I do apologise.
Please pray for me to have revelation of the truth.
Choices! Choices! Read all about it!
The modern way seems on the surface to be all about choice.
Every one is equal; we all have freedom and we all have choices.
That's what 'The Universal Declaration of Human Rights'* assures me!
'We Are All Born Free' The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Pictures, (a beautiful collection published in association with Amnesty International)
We can choose where to live, who to vote for, what to wear, what to study, watch, read, or listen to. We can choose who to marry, or not to marry. We can choose whether to have children, or not; or whether to get rid of unwanted pregnancies, unwanted partners and spouses, unwanted pets – just like we might get rid of unwanted clothes or ornaments.
Because we have choices.
We can choose another, if we want.
If it feels good, do it.
If you want it, have it.
We can choose our name, or even the gender by which we would like to be identified.
We can choose our religion, beliefs and morals.
People talk about the importance of choice, but I don't hear so much spoken about the responsibilities behind choices, nor about accountability, or consequences.
But is modern life really all about choice?
Can I really freely choose these things?
Are they real choices?
Every choice I make has consequences, whether I like the consequences or not.
If I drop a glass thing onto concrete, it will smash, whether I intend or want it to, or not!
You can probably sense that I'm not a big fan of choice.
I have found in hindsight that I have not been very good at making choices!
IF I choose to vote, I can only vote for the names on the paper.
And if I choose A, I have to forfeit B and C.
I cannot choose to have my cake, and to eat it.
IF I make the choice to follow Jesus Christ, I cannot choose to live life in sin.
Jesus spoke some hard truths one day to His followers and some of them found it all too radical and made the choice to turn away and stop following Him. He turned to His disciples and asked if they would leave Him too.
Famously Peter replied, 'Lord, to whom/where should we go? You have the words of eternal life!'
I feel those words etched into me.
I often echo those same words.
I sense an uncomfortable feeling in me as I write these words, and I hope you don't mind if I process this as I write. Maybe you would also pray for me.
I recognise that a judgment, based on a lie, is hiding in the foundations of me and wants to surface here. But I can't quite identify it.
The choice my heart feels like we have is like what one might call 'a no-brainer' choice.
Do you want death, or life?
Choose a way that leads to death, or choose the way of life?
It feels like an unfair choice.
It feels like there is no real choice.
Like the deal was all about free-will, but free-will leads to death.
I do choose Jesus.
I chose Jesus 47 years ago.
That was a good choice, with no regrets.
But I still have a lot to learn!
I am a work-in-progress, but I know that God is faithful.
'We Are All Born Free' The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Pictures, (a beautiful collection published in association with Amnesty International)
John 6.
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