“This day I call the heavens and earth as witnesses against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, that you and your children may live.” Words spoken by Moses as the Israelites prepared to enter the promised land.
And, from the gospel of John: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me.”
Both passages, and the whole of Scripture beg the question, What are you choosing? What are you “eating”?
Free Will
God grants us free will. We can choose or take into ourselves anything we elect and this will yield the natural consequences. There are two paths set before us. Several years after Moses laid out the choices of life and death, in the book of Judges we see these paths play out as the Israelites choose to seek what destroys–the desires of their bodies and serving themselves and idols that aren’t God. Over and over again, this leads to their unhappiness. At the end of each cycle, they would have enough suffering, turn to God again, and start, at least for a while, to live in harmony with the love that God created them to be and to walk in peace and compassion…or at least an attempt at that. When they chose God’s way, the tide would turn and they would find the beginnings of happiness once more.
All throughout scripture, we see a God who is a very patient father, one who desires us to learn from our missteps. Though God lays the path to wholeness clearly before us, often we learn who we are and the true desires of our heart by attaining what we don’t want. In 1 Samuel 8, the Israelites ask for a king, despite God cautioning them against it. The Israelites are insistent, God grants their desire, and things happen just as He promises. With that kind of power of prayer, we have to make sure we are asking for what we really want. We “ask” for what we want not just on our knees in prayer but with our words, our actions, and our thoughts.
Two Doors
At face value, the decision seems easy. We have two doors before us, one that gives us everything we could ever want–a world blessed by love, grace, and light, birds singing, our hearts in harmony with God and the suffering that we do experience surrendered to God in joy and transformed into utter delight. And there’s the other door…the door that we keep being drawn to despite it’s bringing us nothing but pain and fear.
The Trickster
What is so alluring about that other door? I have a little aside that might shed some light onto this. The Kalahari bushmen or San of Namibia and Botswana have an astoundingly close relationship with the one creator. They dance for God and raise their souls to God, choosing with each dance and beat of their heart that first door. And in doing so, the way they see the world is transformed, from one of fear to one of unity and love. However, they are well aware of the whiles of the “trickster” who tries to pull them off their path to God. I love that choice of words for the ways of the devil, the ego, or whatever word you want to give to that force or entity that pulls us away from the ways of God, “the trickster”. Things are super clear, until that trickster gets involved:
Maybe the trickster tells us that it’s that change in job or life partner or island vacation that will really bring us happiness. Even more often, the trickster convinces us that we are too busy to start our day in prayer or meditation, that our shopping is too urgent to send love to those we will meet before entering the store, that our to do list is too long to look our loved one in the eyes and truly hear them. Or maybe we are being tricked into thinking that being right or “righteous” is more important than granting others the free will and forgiveness that God has so generously granted us with. Finally, maybe the trickster tries to convince us that God isn’t big enough for our problems and that we’d better worry and fret and do a thousand and one useless things instead of taking the situation to God, resting in Him, and moving only when He tells us to.
And that’s just my personal list.
Well friends, that’s the wrong door.
Choosing Life
So, how can we choose life?
Psalm 34 assures us that we lack NOTHING when we walk with God. If you would like a long, prosperous life we are reminded, as previously discussed, to watch not just what we ask for but what rolls off our tongues, what we do, and what we seek after in our hearts.
Paul, in Ephesians 5, tells us that we are to be filled with the Spirit and are to live in gratitude and joy.
All of this guidance is tough to follow without a rededication of every moment of our day to God, from the moment we open our eyes to when our head hits the pillow. And that rededication is only possible for us when we become convinced of the power we are enlisting when we bring in the Holy Spirit. The Trickster wants nothing more than us to get too busy or feel too important to bring in the A Team. I pray that we are strong enough in our will to not fall for the voice of the Trickster and lean on God with everything we have.
On the heels of Jesus
If we are looking for a model for this way of life of relying completely on God for sustenance, we need look no further than Jesus, who himself is the way to eternal life, the truth that we need to follow, and the embodiment of life to the fullest. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus invites us to eat of him and drink him in. What does this mean? To me, it means to fully embrace what he did on the cross, knowing that there is nothing we need to do to be deserving of living the way of life, of being one with God. Second, we are to eat of his ways and drink in his words. We are to follow him like my dog follows squirrel trails, nose to the ground, singularly focused. His ways, his words, his truth leads us to the fullest life.
My Door #1
What does the your Door #1 look like?
For me, when I am walking on the path of life, I know my worth in God, my eternal nature, and living in tune with that nature–a spirit-breathed and led life. The Spirit leads me to take time to put my feet in the earth or hands in the water, engage in conversations with friends, put my hands and mind to meaningful work, recommit to Him with a lengthy period of silent contemplation each day, and walk with Him in a pace of life that allows for mindful living.
My walk still needs some tweaking, but it’s come a long way. As we listen to the calls of our soul, we might identify an area where the trickster’s lies have us captive and we need guidance to move towards the way of life. When we experience emotional lack of any kind, it is a sure sign that we have wandered off the path of life. It is then that we must ask God for what we need and obey as He guides us back home. And so, when I know that I’m lacking something that feeds me, I ask God and the Spirit directs me. When I knew I was at a turning point in my spiritual journey, lacked peace, and needed spiritual mentors, I asked of the Spirit and God sent not one but four my way, with the surprise addition two years later of my fiancée, whose deep inner peace and calm have provided the foundation for immense spiritual growth. When I felt pulled due to exhaustion to find a church closer to home, God led me here to Christ Church. When I felt overwhelmed with what I felt was asked of me, I asked God for ease and a clarification of his priorities, and that ease and clarity was granted. And when I asked for help in releasing my fleshly desires that were holding my heart captive, he obliged. With each asking, my joy, my peace, my walking in harmony with God and with my brothers and sisters in Christ was fine-tuned. There is more fine-tuning to come, but I know with each area of my life that I surrender to God’s will, life just gets more in sync with the Way of Christ, the Truth of Christ, and the life my father in heaven designed for me. Finally, as I surrender each area of my life to God, I know that my life is being used in even greater ways to serve God, which fills my heart even more with joy.
Even in the Shadow of Death
When we walk with God, even our trials can be joyous. One of the most beautiful years of my life was the one following the passing of my husband. Though I was blissfully awake and spiritually alive prior to becoming a widow, few knew what was going on in our family and assumed that my joy stemmed from outer blessings. When my life appeared to fall apart and the joy stayed, others were forced to acknowledge that it wasn’t a circumstance based happiness–I was nurtured with the true bread and true drink–the bread of heaven and the water of life. Though my heart still broke in grief that year, I also cried tears of joy when I saw others reaching for God as a result of this witness. It is likely that at some point between now and when God calls me home, more outer trials will come. But, when we are fully surrendered to God and have his streams of living water flowing within us, all our loss is God’s gain in witness to the true source of life. There is no lack or fear, just surrender, peace, and love.
The Spirit’s Vision for Your Life
What lies behind the door of life for you? Take a moment to close your eyes and ask for the Spirit’s guidance in helping you to envision this full life.
First, imagine yourself living your best spirit-filled life, one where you serve out of joy and abundance. What does that look like?
Be bold–ask for the “feeling” of this–chances are, it will be an emotion of joy and peace–the true bread. Ask for this feeling to become your reality, but surrender the details of how that happens to God
Be even more bold–ask God to free you from any lingering selfish desires that could draw you away from the path of life.
Finally, ask God to show you how the thorns in your flesh, the trials in your life, can be surrendered to Him, transformed, and lifted up for His glory.
I pray that we may all be rededicated to living as God created us, filled with his joy, peace, and love.