PETER GOT IT

When all is said and done, from the beginning of time until the end of time, it all comes down to a choice that each and every individual will have to make.  It is the most important choice to be made, for all else hinges on it; it is a matter of life or death that was spoken by God in the beginning.  It was the manifestation of pure freedom that God gave to man.  “And  Lord God commanded the man saying, ‘You may eat of every tree of the garden, but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in that day that you eat of it you shall die” (Gen 2:16,17).

God gives me everything I need for life, including the freedom to accept Him or reject Him.  The ball is always in my court; the choice is always mine, and mine alone; as are the consequences. 

The Bible is a record of how people down through the ages have made that choice and the blessings and cursings that have come from that choice.  The Bible is also a record of a loving God who renews His covenant again and again with people who made the wrong choice and were living in the cursings and consequences of that choice.  God continually opens the way back to Him because He loves all that He created and wants the very best for everyone.  The invitation is always open and the choice to accept or refuse is always mine.

The echoes of Joshua’s words run throughout the Bible.  “Choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.  But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

The echoes of Daniel and the words of his fellow friends in exile run through the Bible. “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from out of your hands, O King.  But if not, be it known to you, O King, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (Daniel 3:17-18).

Peter got it.  Jesus gave a sober and difficult teaching explaining the life that the Spirit gives and the futility of the flesh.  Many of those following him chose to leave.  Jesus turned to the twelve disciples He had chosen to see how they would choose. “ Do you want to go away as well?  Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:67-69).

God gives the commands and the conditions.  The choice is always mine.  I choose to believe Him, receive Him, to be His listening child, to look to Him as my God, and to center my life on Him and His Word.