Interesting, reading the Bible. You can read the same passage hundreds of times, and each time the Holy Spirit will illuminate a new part of the passage…a nuance that you did not see the previous 299 times. I believe that God is dealing with some of the deep parts of my heart…places that have not seen light in a long time. For me, this week, as I’ve been reading John 15, the pruning part keeps resonating. Today, when I read John 15, verse 16 was illuminated.
16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
I did not choose Jesus. Rather, He chose me. I didn’t find Him, He’d always been there. The eyes of my understanding were opened. If Jesus chose me to go and bear fruit, then He has also chosen me to be pruned. Those times when I’ve walked through the Valley of the Shadow of Death…He chose them. Those times when I’ve drawn people unto Him…He chose them.
I’m not preaching predestination here. I had a choice in the whole thing. Once my eyes were opened, I chose to continually be aware of His presence. I had to take the first steps into the Valley, into the desert. Jesus chose these things for me, but I could have said no.
I am pro-choice. I understand that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are gentlemen. They do not coerce us into service. We’re not drafted into the Army of God. We’re not conscripted. We’re enlisted. In service to the Lord, there is freedom…freedom to choose to be who God created you to be…freedom of choice.
Deneen White 