The Choice.

SCRIPTURE:  But as for me, it is good for me to draw near to God; I have made the Lord God my refuge and placed my trust in Him, That I may tell of all Your works. Psalm 73:27-28 AMP

THOUGHT: The thing that sets humans apart from animals is our ability to choose. Volition. Where an animal acts on instinct (and I certainly admit, often gets it right!), we have options to choose a course of action – or reaction – as the case may be. Even people in chains or dark cells have testified they can still choose a path internally. That’s the way God set it up.

A Scripture that always moves me is Paul’s plea to the people of Athens, telling them God has given humans distinct times and places throughout history “so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us (Acts 17:27 NIV),” or as the Message puts it so eloquently, “so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near.”  

God is not far from any one of us, and his hope is that we would seek him, and perhaps reach out for him and find him. I hear God’s longing in those words, hoping we might look at what’s right in front of us, and perhaps make the choice of the Psalmist: it is good for me to draw near to God; I have made the Lord God my refuge and placed my trust in Him – and, if you read the whole Psalm,that’s the decision he makes after almost giving up and throwing in the towel.

If you’ve never made the choice to trust, perhaps today is the day. That’s my hope, but more importantly, his hope for us.

PRAYER: Oh God, I choose to draw near and it is so good. I have made you my refuge and placed my trust in you, using the power to choose you have given me, again and again, moment by moment, as I walk.