The way of life

It’s 2013. I sit in the easy chair and contemplate upcoming travels. Across the ocean. Our way of life means moving back and forth.

And adjusting to changes between two different worlds. Parallel universes, really. 

We are heading back into the intensity of culture and color and music that is South Asia.  The constant calendar of religious festivals. The daily encounter with spiritual worship of every variety.   

The relentless dust.

Leaving

Tickets are bought. The date set for flights over to the large urban area we call home on that side of the ocean. 

We leave behind two of our children. Again.  

And suddenly I want to dig in where we are. Stay put in the safety of Sweet Home Alabama. 

Then, in the middle of this train of thought, I remember. The day’s reading from Jeremiah. 

Two ways

“Look, I am setting before you the way of life and the way of death…” (Jeremiah 21:8). The people of Israel have abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God. They worship and serve other gods.

Destruction is coming. But through His prophet Jeremiah, the Lord gives His people two options. 

One, stay in the city and die by the sword, famine and plague. In other words, stay where you are and wait to die.

Or two, go out of the city, surrender to the Chaldeans and live—“retain your life like the spoils of war” (Jeremiah 21:9). Exit the familiar, the secure place—and learn to live in the enemy’s territory.

A strange path to life

This second option means stepping outside the “safety” of city walls. Exposure to the enemy’s ways. Surrender and captivity. 

What a strange path to life. 

But it is God’s way. His people are learning that God does not take rebellion and disobedience lightly. Still, in the ongoing brokenness of their sin, He offers them a way to live. 

They only need to obey.

Gospel and the faith journey

I meditate on the way of life and the way of death.

Because of the gospel, we who repent and believe are rescued from our sin and rebellion. We walk out of death into eternal life. Out of darkness into His marvelous light. 

He is our way to life.

But in this faith journey, there are days we wrestle. Question obedience to the Lord’s instruction and calling. 

Perhaps we’re weary in the battle. Distracted by our personal desires and dreams. Maybe we just don’t feel like walking in His ways today.

Through the years, seemingly secure home cities have drawn me in. Comfortable enclaves that feel familiar. Safe. 

It’s easier. What I know. An orderly house on a quiet street in suburban anywhere. 

The way of death

However, I discover across the years that these apparently safe environments—these hometown harbors—can become places of death. In the wake of disobedience. 

When I resist His instruction and live in sometimes silent rebellion, comfort rules. The salt loses its flavor. 

Devotion ebbs.

This slow turning from immediate obedience leads eventually to famine. A famine of the soul. 

From there, where’s the joy of walking by faith? It’s distant. Vision has left the building.

Choosing the way of life

The second option in Jeremiah 21 catches my attention. 

The way of life is strange and unexpected.

Walk out to the enemy in obedience to the Almighty. Live in exile as strangers in a foreign land. Set up house in a place of spiritual darkness because of His instruction. 

That day in my easy chair, I think about the options. And draw close to the Only One who truly knows the way.

I take one step. Then another.  We cross the ocean on a wing and a prayer.

The sanctifying way

Even in the dust of enemy territory, the wilderness of in-your-face unbelief, I find my footing on His path of life. And it is salvation. Severe at times—but sanctifying. 

What often looks like restriction and losing it all is in reality life-giving. He provides what I need daily.

Strength and endurance.

Hope. And joy.

His way

His ways are not my ways, but they are the way of life. 

And knowing Him is worth all of the surprising steps into the unknown.

So when I hesitate. When I fail. I remember the gospel. And the One who makes a way for me to repent and continue following Him. 

He alone is worthy of my absolute obedience. 

“Teach me Your way, LORD, and I will live by Your truth. Give me an undivided mind to fear Your name” (Psalm 86:11). 

What about you?

Have you ever wrestled with a desire to stay where you are when He’s calling you to go?  

Related posts: Place ; Follow Me ; Living in exile ; Temporary nest