Saturday, July 13, 2013

Celebrate


Proverbs 12:28
I enjoy life! Enriching relationships and purposeful activity make it so. Something happened over 37 years ago that put my life on a very different course. I came to a fork in the road and I made a choice to move in a different direction. Prompted and empowered by the Holy Spirit, I became a Jesus-follower. And life switched on.
I began to make different choices, uncomfortable choices, unpopular choices. Some things dropped from my inventory of accepted activities and others were added. I began to act differently. I sensed an inward change. I was different.
When I made that choice to change paths, everything changed. I could see my old path. It seemed to almost run parallel for a short distance, but then the paths grew increasingly distant and distinct. Now I can’t even see my former path. I can only imagine where I would be if I had stayed that course. It is not a pretty picture.
In the beginning it would have been easy to just step across the narrow divider and return to the old life. But now I would lose everything if I returned. It is the difference between death and life.
The way is one of righteousness, not a righteousness that originates in us, but one that finds it origin in the LORD. It is His righteousness that fills our existence. And since He is life itself, life comes as part of the package deal. When we choose His righteousness we get life, and a quality of life that carries us into eternity with Him.
So today I celebrate life. I invite you to celebrate it with me.