“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
Romans 6:1-4
A statement early in this morning’s sermon, focused on Romans 6, caught my attention: to walk in the freedom Jesus bought for us “will take a lifetime of choosing Jesus.”
It stirred a prayer in me that I would choose Jesus for a lifetime. I won’t do it perfectly, but if I keep choosing Him, keep determining to press into that relationship and that obedience, I will experience His salvation, freedom, and abundant life of joy, peace, and righteousness.
Wherever you are, whatever your past or present, choose Jesus. And keep choosing Him. Keep believing He is enough to save you – His death, His taking on of the wrath and justice of God, His resurrection conquering death – He is enough. You don’t have to (and you can’t) save yourself. Praise God, Jesus chooses to do what we can’t and He can.
Keep choosing Jesus so you can know Him. He is life, true life as we were meant to know it. He will fill all the empty, broken places with His light and fullness. The fullness and salvation of the infinite God will make you whole and you will see His glory, faithfulness, and power to save and to free you from the sin that seeks to deceive, enslave, and destroy you.
Keep choosing Jesus, always Jesus over sin and anything that would hold you back from Him. He is so very worth it, and only He will free and satisfy you to your very core.
As I pulled this together, I was reminded of these verses in Deuteronomy:
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” Deuteronomy 30:19-20
Those words were spoken by Moses to the people of Israel as they prepared to enter the Promised Land. It was a firm, clear calling to those people to choose life, to choose commitment to the Lord and experience all the good He has for them. This is our calling as well, under the new covenant established by Jesus and His sacrifice. To choose life – to choose Jesus – that we may live, as His Spirit transforms us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, obeying and holding fast to Him through Christ who has saved and sealed us as His forever. Preparing us for “a better country, that is, a heavenly one,” an inheritance that will not perish, spoil, or fade, kept in heaven for us (Hebrews 11:16; 1 Peter 1:4).
In Pleasant Places 