All you have to do is look!
Today is my little sister’s birthday. She went to heaven on October 20, 2012, and she is missed every day by all the people who knew her. My sister died of cancer, and she was a faithful servant of God. She chose not to be treated for her cancer, because as a nurse she had seen the ravages cancer has on a person’s body. This did not make her family happy, but they honored her decision and knew she longed to be with her Lord. Cancer took over her body, but could not touch her soul, that already belonged to God. She had made a choice to become a Christian when she was a young girl. Her faith led her to a Christian man whom she married, and together they raised a Christian family of five children.
Notice I used the word ‘choice’ several times, she chose to become a Christian. My parents raised us in a Bible believing church, but left the choice of Salvation up to each one of us. She chose, not to get treatment for her cancer, all the while knowing to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
When the children of Israel chose to disobey God, they were plagued by fiery serpents, and when bitten, the people died. God told Moses to: Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. The people had the choice to look at the staff and snake and be healed, or in their skepticism, decline and die. They were given a choice, no one could make that decision for them.
If my sister were alive today, she would be telling you about her wonderful Saviour and the choice you have at the eternal life she is now enjoying. It is a free and loving gift offered by Jesus, who paid our sin debt with His blood on Calvary. It is your choice to accept or reject this gift, freely offered. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: Now the choice is yours, will you look and live? Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.
As parents, it is up to us to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. The choice of salvation is initially theirs, but they must have the right tools to make that decision. How you raise your children is your choice. Are you doing right by your children?
We as authors make choices every time we pick up a pen, pencil, or sit at a keyboard. We choose what we will write about and what message we will put out into the world. I for one, am glad I made the choice many years ago, to hold the standard high, and never have to say I am sorry for what I write. I am also glad I made the choice to become a Christian, and I am not ashamed to say it!
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
I and my Father are one.
John 10:28-30
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
Isaiah 45:22
And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Numbers 21:8
Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.
Micah 7:7