August 18, 2006
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We cannot decide the most important things in our lives: to be born or not, our parents and what kind of body we have. So, if we are told to be responsible, we could counter back that we don't have to be responsible because we had no choice in the matter. We are responsible for what we choose, not what we don't choose.
But, when we enter into a relationship with God forgiven through Christ's work on the cross, things change. Whatever decisions have been made for us by God concerning these matters are made according to his perfect will to our good and to his glory. If we are willing to be ruled by the words of God and submit to this, we are no longer in bondage to conditions that we did not choose, and are given freedom to embrace them with thanksgiving. There is a Japanese word "sekkaku" that means something like "especially." If we begin a sentence with sekkaku - well, in Japanese the sentence would start with sekkaku - or in English, "seeing that God has especially given me this circumstance, I will..." There can be no other completion of the sentence than a positive one.
