VATIC Expressions
Truth, Transparency, Transformation
Better... (Deuteronomy 11: 26-28)
by David Eagles
...is a choice. I know, I know-- you were expecting some sort of riveting, life-altering, transformative word, but the truth of the matter is there are few things more powerful than choice, especially to a people created to choose. The ability to choose is something we're born with; how and what we choose is something different, entirely.
“Better” is important and more a part of our everyday lives than we realize. To some it's an illusion, while to others, it's the only reason they exist. For many, “better” is bundled in misconception, believing more equates to it. For everybody, “better” is something that, like God, you either believe in or you don't. And just like God, those who don't believe in “better” do so for one of the same reasons: they've never seen it. But, again, better is a choice.
Education plays a huge part in our decision making, because if you don't know what's available to you, your thought process and choice selection will be limited based on the information you have (Hos.4:6). We're either bettered by what we know or made worse; there are things we can learn to do and ways we can learn to be that can limit us. One of the biggest issues for individuals upon giving their lives to Christ-- a choice-- is not simply relinquishing their will, but their ways. People will want to do God's will, but not want to adopt His ways (which is not something that can actually happen as a consistent lifestyle change), so they make a choice for what they've known in favor of what they don't. For them, the proven results are a better alternative than the unseen results, even when the proven results have left them hurt, disgruntled, and disgusted. A choice was made.
Before we wrap this up, we'd like to make one thing as clear as we possibly can: no one else is responsible for your “better.” You see, we live in a finger-pointing dispensation. You know it's the truth. We saw it in the garden: God came to Adam, Adam blamed Eve; God came to Eve, Eve blamed the serpent. And in like manner, this continues today. When we're asked about why we're not better, why we haven't chosen better, we're quick to blame another person, another situation, another circumstance, making the choice to give the power over our “better” to something we'd like to believe is out of our control. Something else interesting about this? While Salvation does change everything, in and of itself it doesn't, by itself, fix everything. If you believe that you can be everything God created you to be without your active participation, without making choices that will help you arrive to that end, you are sadly, and erroneously, mistaken. When the Bible speaks of being a new creature in Christ Jesus (2 Cor.5:17), it speaks of two things: 1) what instantly is because of what's available, and 2) the process that's involved because of what's available. "All things become new...", not “are new right away.” Why not? Because God wants to give us information that will enable us to make better choices; choices for better. Everything in this new life is supposed to be, and designed to be, better than everything in our old life, but if we don't make the choice for it to be, it won't be. God's love challenges us, and when we don't understand that love-- that challenge-- because we're still wired a certain way and being worked on, then we usually don't choose to embrace that challenge. We make the choice to avoid that challenge or to refuse it, altogether, leaving us in the same state or worse.
We'll leave you with this: what people generally don't understand about choices is that when you choose one thing, you're often, automatically, making a choice for or against something else. So when we don't choose better, we do choose bitter. God bless.
© 2016 David Eagles