Uncle Akin: Choose Life (Part Thirty Six)

Thursday, 15 June 2017

Choose Life (Part Thirty Six)

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” (John 5:5-6, NKJV)

We continue this week with the story of the sick man healed at the Pool of Bethesda. [John 5:1-15].

What a life-giving and life-changing book Dr. Stephen R. Covey endowed the world in “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People?” Wow! I can see scriptures all over. I can give a scriptural example for each one of the principles. If you have not read the book, you are missing a lot. Lay hold of a copy and devour it. Your life will NEVER be the same, for good. GUARANTEED!

For the purposes of our study, we will key into the first two habits. Our real focus is on Habit number 2, “Begin with the End in Mind.” There is, however, no way we can talk about Habit number 2 without first touching Habit number 1, “Be Proactive.” It speaks volumes for itself. To live, the onus is on each of us to be present and engage. It is for us to act rather than be acted upon. It is for us to take responsibility rather than rest on excuses.

"I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions." (Stephen Covey)

That is the basic premise of Jesus's teaching in Matthew 5:38-48. He is not asking us to go about looking for who will slap us, take away our goods, or place us in forced labor. No, no, no. That is already a given. Evil is already present in the world as a result of the fall. The question is not if. It is when. It is when it happens, what will/should you do?

"Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it." (Eckhart Tolle)

Will you react or respond? Will you be prepared or be caught unawares? Life happens to us all. It is all a matter of time. Will you be ready when your time comes? Will you respond according to who you are in Christ, or will you be giving life to the flesh - your lower, carnal nature? Or, will you give place to the Holy Spirit? Will you be responding out of your higher nature or reacting from your lower nature?

"Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen." (Reinhold Niebuhr)