Fear No Fear

“I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service of worship” (Romans 12:1, MEV). God gave us free choice. Among the first things He ever said to humanity was about the CHOICE that they had (Genesis 2:16-17). It wasn’t a gift. It was fashioned into us as our identity. We are those who CHOOSE. Angels were created to follow orders. They don’t choose unless they rebel against God. Animals don’t choose. They follow their natures, the patterns of behaviour God gave them. But WE get to choose. Every day. With every action we take and every word we speak and every thought we choose to dwell on (versus the ones that pop in), we CHOOSE. We can choose to be selfish. We can choose to submit. Not out of fear. Not to get a reward. Those are shallow reasons and they do not earn us anything. Acting from fear isn’t really a choice. Doing to get a reward isn’t worthy of rewarding. But to choose from LOVE. To choose because it will please God. THAT is worth a reward because He is worthy to submit to. It is SIMPLE, but it is not EASY. The only way not to sin is to perfectly obey God. We are CAPABLE of that IN JESUS, but without Him we are doomed to imperfection. If we CHOOSE to rest in Jesus, we will be submitted and will find ourselves following His commandments. If we EVER choose to go our own way in ANYTHING, we will NOT be submitted and we will NOT be following His commands, so that is sin (Romans 14:23). The great gift of God is to allow us to enter into the Rest of Jesus and follow His example. To LISTEN to Holy Spirit and obey. To read the WORD and submit to what we find. To SACRIFICE our own desires and ideals and replace them with His desires and ideals. To align ourselves with Him because it is right and good and He is worthy of that. To love Him enough to seek His opinions, seek His companionship as our Lord and Saviour, humbly submitted to His will. And the GIFT He gave us is our ability to love Him. To TRUST Him enough to obey. To be His child.