Now in case you were gearing up to arm-wrestle me over decision theology,let me just say this. For as much as I believe that God claims us and calls us, and that faith is the stirring of the Spirit, and we don't choose God so much as God chooses us...

Isn't is also true that every day brings with it the choice (or multiple choices) to act and speak according to the faith that is in us (or not)? And when it comes to really actually following Jesus and being a disciples, then I do think that we wake up every day in a new place to commit to living out God's love and mercy. Every day we make the choice to follow in Jesus' footsteps instead of going our own way.

And for whatever guidance and prodding of the Spirit that leads us to that daily recommitment, this past Sunday's gospel reminds me that following Jesus means a conscious decision to face forward into God's future and not to turn back. Not to turn back to our old selves, not to turn back to our old fears, not to turn back and worry that we aren't good enough or worthy enough or that God doesn't love us enough. We turn back when we doubt that we are equipped to work for God's justice and mercy in the world...and so there are days when it is really, honestly, a gut-it-out decision to follow Jesus, trusting that God has equipped us to do so.