The Choice

“You are already clean because of the Word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, and I will remain in you.” John 15: 3-4a

As believers, Jesus Christ is our everything. He is at the center of all our relationships, the Source of all love that we give and receive. He is the Provider of all things.

Jesus said:
I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. John 6:35ESV
I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. John 8:12
I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. John 10:9
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:11
I am the resurrection and the life. John 11:25
I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

He is the air we breathe. Maybe not literally but spiritually. We can survive without Him, but we cannot live life to the fullest without Him.

He is our atmosphere, hemming us in behind and before as He did for the Israelites, sending His very own Spirit to live inside us.

People who don’t know Christ live in the atmosphere of the world. They live by their senses, and are entirely caught up in their lives here on earth. They are under the power of the enemy and are blind to this fact. They try to get love from people, because it’s the only way they know. They work at earning it, pretend they don’t need it, or demand it.

Christians don’t have to live this way.

Unfortunately, many of us still do.

I was an earner.

About 6 years after becoming a follower of Christ, I was playing a tennis match. I had been an athlete for a long time, and my “identity” was wrapped up in it. I felt like a different person when I stepped on the court. As my intensity increased for the game, my emotions of insecurity and fear heightened. I felt a relentless drive to win, to be a winner.

To be worthy.

I hit the ball. It clearly landed inside the baseline. My opponent called it out.

My normal reaction would have been to say nothing, but be stewing inside, looking for my next chance to “get her back” by hitting a winner. No matter what happened, the anger would have stayed with me throughout the match and even after the match, wringing my insides mercilessly like a wet rag.

But something different happened this time. At this moment that I will never forget, a thought came. It said, “You can get upset about this, but you don’t have to.”

I almost laughed out loud, not because it was humorous, but because in that seemingly meaningless moment, God revealed to me an incredibly powerful Truth.

I had a choice.

I could continue living the way I had survived in the world before Jesus saved me, struggling through with my own meager resources, trying to amount to something.

Or, I could live His way, by His power and with His resources – accepting the identity He had bestowed upon me and all its benefits.

I could choose the atmosphere of the world, or the atmosphere of living “in Christ”. Even though He had already saved me, each day while still on the earth, each moment, I still had this choice.

Because of what Christ did for us, we are not stuck in sin and misery-causing patterns anymore.

We do not have to get angry and even when things don’t go our way. We do not have to work ourselves to death to win approval and recognition. We do not have to strive to look fit and pretty and hip so others will like us.

We do not have to earn love, because He has made us worthy of it.

We don’t have to create an identity for ourselves, because He has already bestowed one on us.

This choice is as extreme as choosing to live in the atmosphere of Mars, which cannot support life, or choosing the atmosphere of Earth, which was created to support life.

Survive, or live.

That court was an entirely different place than it had been one minute before. No court, proverbial or literal, has been the same since.

I am no longer the fearful little girl who gained attention and love from her ability to do well in sports and school. I am no longer the child who searches for approval wherever she can find it. I do not live life the way she did, because I don’t have to.

I am a child of the King. Precious and beautiful in His sight.

Tirelessly pursued. Gallantly rescued. Perfectly loved.

And so are you.

I encourage you to take some time to sit still and just be with Him. You can talk to Him, read His Word, sing to Him, or just be silent. As you are in His Presence, the “atmosphere” as you perceive it will change. Because of His grace and Him working in you, your eyes will move from yourself and your circumstances to Him and His glory.

It is a subtle shift that changes everything.

You, LORD, are our atmosphere. You are the air we breathe! With You, we are safe anywhere. You are our everything. All good things come from You. You bring rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

As Your children, when we sit in Your Presence, we are washed with Your love. We enter Your gates with thanksgiving and Your courts with praise. We remember who You are, and therefore, who we are: children who are incredibly precious to the King of the Universe, who loved us enough to limit Himself to human skin and die a criminal’s death in order to pay the high price of His own wrath because of our sin.

And then, even when everything is “not okay”, it is okay. It is well. The atmosphere changes. Because we are in Your Hands. And no one can take us out. Nothing can separate us from Your love.