Courage to move on.

Anything of worth, any value-added experience, costs us something. Our lives are configured on such a premise. If something is worthwhile it will require effort, demand sacrifice and call for courage.

Life is worthwhile. To live it successfully one must be prepared to invest heavily with the currencies of courage, sacrifice and effort. Jesus Christ was no different. During His earthly sojourn He invested, not just heavily, but totally in the Father’s plan to reconcile mankind to Himself.

Jesus’ journey was not one of smooth-sailing, straight roads and challenges with all the resistance-potential of morning mist. He got angry, He knew fear, He was tempted to quit, frustration with friends became predictable, even family could be bothersome.

For every challenge, ahead of each opportunity, in the wake of all reversals, Jesus was called upon to make decisions. The responsibility of decision-making is not one that we all readily embrace. Decisions are a marker, a standing stone, if you will, that indicate the certain end of something and the beginning of something else. That something else can be what we want, what we need or what is necessary. On the other hand, a lack of moral fortitude, i.e. the desire to not make a decision, will usher in a season, a circumstance, an experience of what we do not want or require. Active and positive decision-making will bring the ultimately profitable. A shying away from a decision of any sort will birth only that which is negative, needlessly costly and a sapping of strength, standards and significance.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ, I have a record of making at least one decision – the decision to serve Him wholly. If I can make one decision, it stands to reason that I can make another, then another and then...

Your life will stand still without your having the intestinal fortitude (i.e. guts) to make a decision one way or another. To be a Christ-centred person is to be a man or woman who will face challenges, adversity and opportunity with a steely determination that comes from allowing Him who is central to live in us.

Jesus Christ will not make the decisions for you, but He will guide you in making them and walk with you through the subsequent consequences of that choice. No decision can be made without considering the cost. Any worthwhile goal will cost.

Jesus made the decision to go to Calvary and all that that entailed. In the Garden of Gethsemane He shuddered with fear and, for a moment, almost lost His footing. Yet as quickly as fear came in, He let His decision to proceed be lifted up as a standard against terror and uncertainty. The pain was still real, the fear palpable, but His decision was incapable of deflection or defeat, no matter what He was going through.

Be encouraged, reader, whoever you are. Your courage to make a decision to stay or to go, partake or ignore, accept or reject, will determine the quality of your life for years to come. You are under no obligation to stay in a place of abuse. Misery is not your lot. Defeat, lack and depression are imposters whose right to remain has been determined by your lack of decision-making.

I do not know who I am writing this for, but someone out there needs to see these truths and act upon them. We may never meet but that is not the issue. Just do what is right, make the stand, choose the direction and embrace the challenge. Victory will follow.