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Choosing and Being

             I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws. (Psalm119:30)

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to say this? It’d even be nice to say I’ve kept “the big ones.” One of the problems is defining which are “the big ones”? If I haven’t committed murder and haven’t slept with my neighbor’s spouse, do I deserve a pat on the back? Not according to Jesus. He said we are guilty if we even think in the direction of murder and adultery. He also said that the big commandment is to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

While it might be great to be able to say this, it might be horrible if we did say it. After all, we’d be bragging. “See how good I am? I deserve God’s respect and appreciation.” This is the examination table mentality into which I fall. Am I being good enough? Let’s spend an hour reviewing my day so I can be sure to let God, you, and myself know what a wonderful person I am. Or (more likely) how far short I fall.

Possibly as a response to the examination table concept, Dallas Willard wrote about not doing these things so much as becoming the kind of person who does them. It’s not an effort of the will for which we seek to be praised as much as it’s just what we do. Generally speaking, we are people who breathe, and it doesn’t tend to require much focus on our part. It takes effort to not breathe and we’re not good at it. We don’t tend to spend part of our day reviewing our breathing or thinking ourselves either good or bad because of our breathing. That’s how being honest or good should be. We should choose the way of faithfulness and set our hearts on His law because that’s what we do, not because it makes us look good.

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