The Ease of Choosing Faith.

     Faith in God is something that we have to choose daily. We have to work against our flesh and against the world, and choose to instead take up the life Jesus died to give us. His lifeblood is over us. It's a difficult choice. The title of this post is not to show faith as easy, but to talk about how much easier it is to choose faith nowadays. We have so many opportunities to choose Him. So many areas where we can recognize God's hand in our lives. What a gift.

     In reading my dailies, I came across the story of Naaman. It affected me greatly. There was a line in it that peaked my interest:

2 Kings 5:17
"And Naaman said, If not yet, I pray thee, let there be given to thy servant two mules; burden of earth; for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt-offering nor sacrifices unto other gods, but unto Jehovah."

     Naaman was at first offended by what he determined to be Elisha's disinterest, and probably disrespect, but still he followed the Prophet's advice and was healed of leprosy. He then proclaimed the truth of the Lord. He offered Elisha gifts, which were refused (that was interesting too - timing of acceptance), then asked for earth. I just didn't understand why he took the earth with him. I asked Nenners and she researched it out. Naaman knew the truth of God, but also knew that He was the God of Israel. As such, he took the earth to sacrifice on. He wanted to live for God, but couldn't do that in a land that didn't belong to Him. What a faith. Verse 18 talks about how Naaman will face difficulties in the land he will return to. He proclaims in verse 17 that he will not live for any other god, but he asks to be forgiven for following his earthly king. Then Elisha responds to him, saying:

2 Kings 5:19
"And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way."

     To me, this parting was a covering for Naaman. He had made his belief in God known and his heart was strong in Him. God knew that, knew him. I had a covering when I first came to God. It was precious to me in so many ways and was with me in so many different situations. The timing of it was so important; It was His.

     I feel like this story shows the difficulty in following God. Naaman was covered, and that is so important, but he also needed to bring the physical land of Israel with him. He did so because he felt unworthy in his own land. It wasn't God's land. We live now, not in land, but in Jesus. He sacrificed Himself for us. Then, on the third day, He rose again. He gave His people the Holy Spirit. Then, He gave all people, who knew Him, the Holy Spirit. He opened the truth to the gentiles. To us. That is the gift of today. The ease of faith. The gift of choosing Him every single day. That is why living nowadays is a amazing, because we can live FULLY in Him.

     Choosing faith is difficult; It's also easy. It's unexplainable. We have to actively choose Him, but it's the choice of a lifetime. He loves us. He gives us so much. He gave us life, then He gave us the life of His only Son. We live in Him. He is good. I love Him muchly.

Acts 15:8-9
"And God, Who knoweth the heart, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as He did unto us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith."

--> Wow. He's for everyone. He's for us. Praise God!

THIS IS MY EVEN 100th POST! I like that. I like evens. I'm going to have a hard time breaking that. I'm a little Monkish sometimes. Hmmm... I'll start working towards it.