Choose...

"It's choice - not chance - that determines your destiny," Jean Nidetch.

Choices.  We are faced with a dizzying array of decisions from the moment we open our eyes each morning. What to wear, what to eat, what time to leave the house, whether to stop at Starbucks, to make the bed or not, to exercise or not, and if so, to walk or take a Zumba class; and yes, ladies you know this one, should I shave my legs this morning or not?  Many choices are automatic and often seem insignificant, while others carry tremendous weight and clearly have the power to change the course of our lives.  We all realize the major choices - the career path we select, the person we pledge to stand beside through better or worse - these decisions are obviously life altering, but I wonder if we, if I, give enough gravitas to the power of repeated, daily, seemingly insignificant decisions that can often go unnoticed in the whirlwind of a typical Thursday. The older I get, the more I am realizing that the small things really just might be the big things.

Moses spoke to the Israelite nation on the edge of the Promised Land, bringing God's message to them in Deuteronomy 30:15: "Look at what I've done for you today: I've placed in front of you Life and Good, Death and Evil.  And I command you today: Love God, your God. Walk in His ways. Keep his commandments, regulations, and rules so that you will live, really live, live exuberantly, blessed by God, your God, in the land you are about to enter and possess." MSG.

Thousands of years ago, God told Moses to exhort the people to choose life.  He offers the same choice to us everyday, possibly thousands of times in an average week.  Choose life.  Choose to respond rather than react to situations and people. Choose to offer grace in the face of unfounded judgement and heartache. Choose to let the Lord interrupt your day and your agenda with  an opportunity to lift up another.  Choose to be thankful for all you have been blessed with rather than mope over what you don't have.  Choose to care for yourself and the temple that is your body so that you will be healthy and ready to serve.  Choose to make your words uplifting and edifying, to guard your heart and mind against hardening toward that which grieves the heart of God.  Choose forgiveness when carrying a grudge would seem oh so justified by the standards of this world. Choose faith when telling that mountain to move seems more than impossible.

Moses and the people of Israel didn't have the advantage we have; the advantage of the example of Jesus, the picture of what the sum of these choices looks like.  The individual decisions that become a life. The little things that really are the big things; a legacy and a heritage.  Yes, there are things that happen in this world that are beyond our control, but when I really think about it, I realize that much of what has happened to me in my life really is a result of my choices.  So I am determined to be intentional about my destiny; to choose life, and to choose it now!