Below is a blog from Rend Collective that’s worth pondering.

“We’ve been thinking a lot about choices.

Hey Friends,

It can feel like we don’t actually have a lot of power to make decisions right now.

We can’t choose to go out for a bite to eat. Or go to the gym. Or get a haircut(how’s that working out for you?). If you’re in the U.K. you can’t even choose to go out for 2 walks in the same day!

We don’t get to pick our circumstances: but we do get to choose our response.

I love this verse in Joshua:

“Choose this day whom you will serve…but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.”

THIS DAY. THIS MOMENT. THIS BREATH.

It’s right here that we have a decision to make. We can build our altar right here on this seemingly barren ground. Not in some theoretical future when things are “normal”(whatever that is!) but right here in the conflict and confusion, the mess of real life. We have never followed Jesus in some perfect vacuum or a Christian Disneyland – we follow Him in a broken/beautiful world.

There’s always a “virus”. There’s always suffering. There’s always hurt.

And the real people of God have always chosen to proclaim Him as good and worthy in spite and above all of that.

Faith isn’t all inspiration on the mountaintops – a lot of it is perspiration in the valleys, “working out our salvation in fear and trembling”.

There are a lot of details that we have to surrender right now.

But let’s control what we can control.

No one is forcing us to be socially distant from Jesus.

We have some agency and authority over our lives even now.

We can choose to press into Him in this season, to worship Him passionately, to soak in His word.

This isn’t just a time of waiting : this is a time of choosing.

Who are we going to decide to be when the chips are down, the shadows fall and the pain surrounds?

What are we going to do with this admittedly less-than-perfect portion of our “one wild and precious life” as Mary Oliver put it so well?

As for me and for my house, we will serve the Lord.

Love,
Rend Co.”

Jesus summed up all the commandments with the command to love God and to love our neighbour. When we embrace love, we embrace the very nature of God, for God is love. (1 John 4:8) We often have a very romanticised view of love in the Western world, immediately focussing on the erotic love between a couple, but love – as the Greek language makes plain – has many different facets. There is the love of a parent for a child, the love of a child for a parent, the love between friends, the love between family members, the regard and affection we may have for colleagues or acquaintances and so on. Love involves patience, kindness, gentleness, encouragement, tolerance, hope, challenge and faithfulness (see 1 Cor 13:4-8). True love must be selfless and care more for the beloved than for oneself.

penguins holding hands at sunset

When we look at the cross, we see love personified. We see the selfless sacrifice of the Saviour, His desire to save others greater than His need for self-preservation. We see the anguished love of the Father, caring for humanity so much that He gave His only Son to save us from our sins. (John 3:16) We see how love goes not only the extra step, but the extra mile; we see love vast as the ocean, as the hymn says.

That love melts our hearts and gives us the ability to embrace love in our own lives. The love we are called to show is that same ‘agape’ love: not the love simply for our own kind or our own families, but a love that embraces everyone. This kind of love is divine, all loves excelling. It’s this kind of love we need to embrace, made possible as we embrace the One who loved us and gave Himself for us and as we are embraced in return by Him.

In the book of Deuteronomy, we have Moses’s sermon before he died and his reminders to the Israelites of all God’s commands. In Deut 7:17-18, he says, ‘You may say to yourselves, “These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?” But do not be afraid of them; remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt.”‘ In these verses, we have both a negative and a positive which give us clues on how to handle life at all times.

We need to watch our inner monologues, the things we say to ourselves, because it’s these things which ultimately determine our actions. Often, our inner monologues are so subconscious we are not really aware of them. Moses warned the people not to be led by these conversations. They may well be founded on truth (the nations certainly were stronger than the Israelites) and it’s not wrong to ask questions. But so often, the place these inner monologues lead us to is one of fear, anxiety and defeat. The ten spies who returned from the Promised Land saw giants and their hearts trembled; the conclusion they reached was false (that God could not deliver them and therefore they should not enter that land, despite His promises.) We need to beware what we say to ourselves, because we may well end up believing erroneous conclusions as a result (God doesn’t care; He’s not there; He’s not powerful.)

The way out of this, Moses says, is to remember well what God has done. Focus on God. Think about all the things He has already done for us. Remind yourselves of His love, care, interventions and miracles. Remembering what God has done is the only real antidote to anxiety and fear. Because God acts in a consistent, unchanging way, the things He has done in the past give us hope for how He will act in our current uncertain present and future. When we focus on God, our attitudes and actions are changed: ‘Do not be terrified by them, for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God.‘ (Deut 7:21) When we focus on our great and awesome God, we can face the tragedies of life with hope and confidence.

Easter reminds us of the price of forgiveness. For us to be forgiven meant Jesus had to die on the cross for our sins. Yet as we see the injustice, scheming and hatred which led to His death, His response reminds us that God’s way involves the narrow path of forgiveness. Even as He hung on the cross, He spoke of forgiveness. (Luke 23:24) Peter tells us, ‘When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.’ (1 Pet 2:23)

When we embrace forgiveness, we reflect the heart of God. In the prayer Jesus taught His disciples, we are taught to pray, ‘forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.’ (Matt 6:12) We are also reminded that ‘if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.’ (Matt 6:14) There really is no way to progress in the Christian life if we don’t embrace forgiveness, but Easter is our ultimate reason for forgiving. When we understand how much we have been forgiven, forgiving is the natural response.

The Star Trek series introduced us to the Vulcans, living on another planet and the epitome of logic and reason, whose mantra (accompanied by a hand greeting I never managed to master!) is ‘Live long and prosper!’

Interestingly, the Bible has much to say on this theme, connecting the two things to our obedience to God: ‘So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.‘ (Deut 5:32-33)

The Old Testament reminds us that obedience is the highest form of service to God. Jesus reinforced this when He told His disciples, ‘If you love me, obey my commands.’ (John 14:15) Today’s challenge, then, is for us to obey God. Most of the time, this will coincide with obeying man’s laws as well; sometimes it will not. (Acts 5:29) We need wisdom to tell the different and we need hearts that will listen for the spirit of God’s commands, not just for the letter. The religious leaders during Holy Week thought they were doing right in arresting Jesus and having Him killed, for example. We must guard our hearts so that our obedience is not mere empty form or ritual, self-interest disguised as obedience. The obedience God requires arises from a heart devoted to Him. The prophets often warned us of the dangers of obedience that was fuelled by self-righteousness; Micah reminds us that what God requires is for us to ‘act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.’ (Micah 6:8) That’s the way to live long and prosper!

The English used to be famed for their ‘stiff upper lip’; self-control was probably the virtue of which the nation was most proud. Whilst this may have led to repression and suppression, there is much to be said for learning self-control, which is listed as one of the fruit of the Spirit. (Gal 5:22-23) The current tendency to do whatever feels good at the moment with no thought for the long-term or consideration for others is a recipe for disaster.

Self-control means we do not yield to every whim and fancy which dances before our eyes; we pause before we speak or act. Self-control means we do not stamp our feet like the toddler or throw ourselves down on the floor in a paddy every time we don’t get our way (tempting though this may be!) Ultimately, we need God to be in control more than we need to be in control; we need to be soaked in His word and led by His Spirit so that we do not give in to temptation and follow the way of self.