I HAVE A RIGHT TO CHOOSE OR NOT TO CHOOSE, BUT NOT CHOOSING IS STILL A CHOICE

SCRIPTURE:
Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, 
He gave the right to become children of God. 
(John 1:12)

MEDITATION:
We live in a world of turmoil where everyone is fighting for their rights.
The problem is, in order for me to win my rights, 
someone else may have to lose theirs.
Doing the right thing is never wrong, 
but man has managed to distort the definition of what is right.

As an example, man has determined that it is ‘right’ 
for a person who was created by God as a male to change their gender 
and be admitted to the women’s restroom.
First of all, 
that is implying that God made a mistake when he created the individual.
In addition, 
when God creates a male, he includes an inherent attraction to females.

No matter how a person changes their physical body, 
they cannot completely undo the attraction God has created.
Consequently, it cannot be ‘right’ for someone with a God-created 
attraction to share the restroom with the opposite sex.

We could list many other examples where ‘wrong’ is made to seem ‘right’ 
by man’s definition, but what about the rights God has given us?
Since God is filled with a love that cannot be measured, He offers 
many blessings that cannot be duplicated or replaced by man.

God has a ‘right’ available for anyone who makes the ‘right’ choice.
When we receive the Lord and believe in His name, God gives us 
the ‘right’ to become a part of His family.
When we receive His ‘right’, our earthly ‘rights’ seem less important, 
because we have a new hope and a new purpose in life.

His love is finite and not ambiguous or dependent on circumstances.
God is love, but that doesn’t mean He will not allow punishment for sin.
His holiness demands that all sin be punished,
but His love provides a plan of redemption and salvation for sinful man.

God’s love also allows for the ‘right’ of man to reject His redemption plan.
His love is immeasurable, unmistakable, unending, 
and reaches to wherever man is, but it can be entirely rejected. 
If we reject His plan, 
then we forfeit our ‘right’ to be included in His family.
And when we do, 
we have made a choice to accept the consequences of our decision.

Man can try to redefine God’s ‘rights’ and rationalize His incorrectness, 
but that is like a lump of clay arguing with 
the one who was able to form it into something worthy.
In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis said,
“When you argue against Him you are arguing against the very power that 
makes you able to argue at all: it is like cutting off the branch you 
are sitting on.”

ACTION:
What choice have you made regarding God’s loving offer?
Have you accepted it and received your ‘right’ to become a child of His, 
or have you chosen to reject His offer 
and accept the consequences of forfeiting your ‘right’?

Pride can be one of the most influential contributors 
to making a wrong choice.
Look at these two quotes from C.S. Lewis:
“As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking 
down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down
you cannot see something that is above you.”
“Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, 
only out of having more of it than the next man. 
It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above 
the rest. Once the element of competition is gone, pride is gone.”

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, help me to look past my perceived earthly rights to the 
rights provided by You. Forgive me if I have allowed pride to rise up and 
control my life and the choices I make. Help me to no longer be prideful 
of the things I have and things I can do, but to only be proud that I am 
a child of Yours.”