Yesterday, M&M announced, “I voted for orange!” My little guy makes a lot of choices every day, not just about his favorite color—things like whether he’ll stay in his bed all night, between obediently eating his dinner or crying over the chicken pot pie, whether to entertain himself quietly or bug Brown Sugar about playing Littlest Pets. And his decisions greatly impact the rest of us: our sleep, our menu planning, or whether we get through today’s algebra lesson.
But as much as I love orange, stress the importance of math, and adore M&M in all his temper tantrum glory, I’ve got an important decision to make today. No, not Hillary versus Donald. Just like many of you I’ve been debating, praying for, and agonizing over making that decision, but really, we’ve all got bigger fish to fry. Every minute I have to make a choice that involves life beyond the booth or the polls:
Do I choose Jesus or the world?
“You already chose Jesus. You’re saved,” you say. Yet my faith in the sacrificial, saving grace of the cross means I take it up daily, feeling its weight and relying on its power to carry me moment to moment.
When I first set my sights on heaven I didn’t start walking on water. Rather, my faith is a life raft when everyday life overwhelms me. For me, choosing Jesus daily means reading the Bible instead of playing my 5001st game of Solitaire (uh-huh, I mean that literally); biting my tongue and saying, “thank you” when Hubby tells me how to drive; loving that child who called Maven “that black kid who might hurt me”; saying “I’m sorry” to the little people; not hanging up on the pushy telemarketer who’s trying to sell me a timeshare at 7 a.m.; generously tipping the waitress who forgot my chives and took her time bringing the check; closing my computer when Brown Sugar wants to read The Sisters Grimm; praying for folks who’ve blessed me out instead of blessing me; turning to Him instead of others in my loneliness; signing off with a smiley face instead of the angry emoji; and yes, voting instead of burying my ballot in the sand.
So great a salvation affects such seemingly little decisions. Every choice you make not only says a little about you; it says a lot about the God you serve. One day we, His children, will cast our crowns at His feet in worship, so today, let’s cast our vote for Him in loving submission.
“…Serve the LORD! And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of 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 24:14, 15
