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Moses gave this message to the Israelites on their journey through the wilderness. The message is being given to us on our journey. "Choose life, not death." It seems an unnecessary piece of advice, for what sane person would choose death ?
It is good to reflect on various episodes in your life in the light of the statement: "We are created to praise, reverence and serve God." Then ask yourself face to face with the various episodes in your life, "Is this which brings me life, or do I only come to life when creation is praising, reverencing and serving me ? Does everything deaden me which is not promoting my praise, my self-importance, my comfort and security ? This self-centeredness is the way of death; God-centeredness is the way of life.
That is what Jesus is saying in Luke 9,24 "If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let them renounce themselves, and take up their cross every day and follow me. For all who want to save their lives will lose them, but those who lose their lives for my sake, will find life. What gain, then, is it for anyone to have won the whole world and to have ruined their very self ?"
These words. "..let them renounce themselves..." taken out of context, have caused havoc in many Christians' lives, focusing attention on renunciation, as though it were something good in itself. God is seen as being most pleased with us when we are giving ourselves a hard time, and holiness is measured by our ability to endure suffering. This is a total distortion of Jesus' message. The renunciation which he demands is a renunciation of all those things which deaden us, so that we may live more fully; and to live more fully is to be freed from self-preoccupation so that we may delight in His creation, know ourselves at one with it and see our lives as a gift given to us so that others may live more fully.
Therefore, we should look carefully at our lives, at those things which bring us to life and which help us to appreciate, value, cherish and wonder at God's creation, and ensure that we give time to reflect on these events.
Pray:God, source of life, in whom we live and move and have our being, release us from our imprisoning fears and from every self-preoccupation which robs us of the gift of wonder at the miracles of your creation and blinds us to you.
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