Choices

“Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:42 (NIV)

Another Christmas come and gone. A new year awaits. It will combine challenges and blessings. I choose to focus on the blessings, cherishing each one as a hand-crafted gift from my heavenly Father. I also choose to accept the hard times as opportunities to grow, to cultivate patience, kindness, compassion, and trust.

Choices; they impact who I am as a person. Some can change the course of my life for a moment or forever. I can struggle against them or welcome them as God-given assignments intended to develop within me a teachable mind and a gracious spirit.

Choices will abound throughout this coming year. The manner in which I respond suggests who I am as a person and who I am as God’s child. Like Mary, may I choose devotion over distraction. May I choose balance over busyness. May I discern the difference between responsibilities and priorities. May I choose love over hatred or selfish ambition. May I choose mercy over indifference. May I choose gentleness over harsh words. May I choose humility over selfish pride. May I choose Christ over anything or anyone that makes me a lesser witness of His divine grace.

May my choices in this coming year cause His light to shine ever brighter in me.

Thought: “The remarkable thing is, we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.” – Chuck Swindoll