Choose Daily
by Dotty Cockcroft
It was such a relief to me after a number of years as a Christian to come to understand the meaning of the word ‘covenant’. Yes, I was a ‘Born Again’, Spirit-filled Christian, and I could teach people that God loved them, and there was nothing they could do, good or bad, to alter that. But I was still striving to be good enough and to please Him. From a deep, unacknowledged place within there was an expectation that I might be rejected, which caused me to battle daily with my understanding that God loved me.
Then I came to understand ‘Covenant’ and at last realised (in that deep place, as well as in my head) that there was really nothing that I could do to persuade God to love me more. It brought so much freedom, and I learned to enjoy just ‘being’ rather than feeling a bit guilty if I wasn’t ‘doing’ something for the Kingdom. After all it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to transform me into the likeness of Jesus, and there’s nothing much I can do about it, apart from being willing, which of course I am.
The other day, however, I was listening to someone speaking about relationship with Jesus and saying that we need to choose every day. They didn’t mean we have to choose every day to enter that Covenant relationship which Jesus provided for us by his death and shed blood. Once we’ve done that, because it’s dependent upon Him and not us, it’s impossible for us to break it. What they meant was that, every day, we have a choice whether to walk in close fellowship with Jesus, or hold Him at arm’s length, or even further away.
For a while I’ve been thinking and praying about a direction I was given to ‘seek intimacy with God’ and wondering how to do it. This is it.
Every day you can seek to walk in close fellowship with Jesus and not hold Him at a distance. What will you choose to do today?
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, I want to walk this day with You, just as I would if I were having a day with my best friend. Help me Lord to draw close to You, and not push You away. Thank You for Your unfailing love for me. Amen.
Dotty Cockcroft is on the associate ministry and teaching teams at Glyndley Manor where she has been involved for about 20 years. She is married with 3 grown up children and 3 gorgeous grandchildren and works as a Practice Nurse. She passionately believes God wants us to move into His healing and wholeness.
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