“For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.
You who fear the LORD, praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel! For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard.”
Psalms 22:16-18, 23-24 NKJV“He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will. ””
Matthew 26:39 NKJVChoice
I remember a song, when I was a new believer, that struck my heart and helped me to understand what had happened on the cross at Calvary.
On the surface one might think that this innocent Man was brutalized and murdered, overwhelmed and overpowered. In reality He made a choice to go to the cross to pay for our sins. He was the Creator of the universe, keeping everything intact, to pay the price He did not owe.
Ten Thousand Angels
They bound the hands of Jesus in the garden where he prayed
They led him thru the streets in shame
They spat upon the savior so pure and free from sin
They said, “crucify him: he’s to blame
He could have called ten thousand angels
To destroy the world and set him free
He could have called ten thousand angels
But he died alone, for you and me
-Carl R. OverholtIn my reading this morning I found myself in Psalm 22, one of the prophetic, messianic psalms, in that it talks about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
In the text I could see the pressure that Jesus must have endured as He went to the place of reckoning to settle up for sinners of whom I am chief. He struggled, He cried out, and He was heard.
He was heard.
In that moment, He would not have needed ten thousand angels, as He could have spoken everything out of existence in a pained whisper.
But He chose to endure it all. It pleased God to put Him there, to endure torture, that the sins of the creation be propitiated, that you and I be forgiven.
I remember a sermon delivered by one of my Facebook friends who spoke of that choice, of that willingness to die for our sins and experience that death, that separation from God, that impossible to understand moment, when one member of the Godhead was separated from another. An agony none of us could ever imagine.
Brothers and sisters, we will be met with many choices in the coming weeks, months and, maybe, years. Let us make those choices with the reference point of the One who made the ultimate choice, Jesus.
I can’t tell you that some of us may have to make life and death choices, as many of our brothers and sisters are doing just that around the world. But we will have choices, nonetheless.
That choice could be that moment of sharing the Gospel with a loved one, knowing that it may create a split, and a breaking off of communication. It might mean making the choice to stand for Jesus in the face of mockery. It might mean making the choice to stand for the values of Jesus and risk losing a job.
Know that our Lord has gone before us, as He made the choice to live for us, and die in our place, taking the punishment of God on His body for our sins. It comes down to choosing who we will serve, whether it be the gods of this world, or the One True God.
“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 24:15 NKJV
Choice
Published
Musings from an idle mind 
Me too Bernie. Let’s roll
LikeLiked by 1 person