I Choose Death

Once, Nelson Mandela spoke about a prison guard who said to him, ‘Do you know that I have the power to have you killed?’ Mandela responded, ‘Do you not know that I have the power to go to my death freely?’

For generations, different Christians have argued over free will. Where does it begin? Where does it end?

The power of the gospel is that we are born into slavery. We are born slaves of sin. When we surrender our lives to Christ, the Bible teaches us that we are born again or born from above. Think about that for a moment. My first birth was into sin, into slavery. My second birth was into freedom, into sonship.

Jesus didn’t die so that I wouldn’t have to. Jesus died to set me free, so I could die daily to my flesh. What once wasn’t an option is now a daily option to choose Him, His life, and His way.

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” –‭‭Matthew‬ ‭16‬:‭24‬-‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Death and resurrection, this is the way.

One of the things that I’ve been asking the Holy Spirit, in this season, is what needs to die in me and what needs to be resurrected?

What needs to die?
We all have things that need to be crucified, from our pride to our desires. We all have things in us that need to be crucified. This is so important in the Christian life and something that I can’t encourage you enough to ask the Holy Spirit.

For me, in this season, it has been my fear over money and the security I find in it. Also, another He has been touching is my fear of failure and fear of missing out. All of these are connected to my pride, but what I’ve discovered is that the culture we live in, along with the selfish desires in my heart, are always trying to get me to live out of those fears. That must die in me so that I can find freedom to be who God has called me and wants me to be.

What needs to die in you?

What needs to be resurrected?
All of us have something that needs to be resurrected: our love for Jesus, our belief in healing, a dream He gave us to steward, our marriage, our faith. On and on, we can go about examples of things God wants to redirect in our life.

He is not just the God who touches things that need to die but also the God of life! Resurrection life!

For me, in this season, it has been my love for Him. Not based on the stages I stand on or the size of the congregation I pastor, but simply in me being His son. I think these last 20 years of ministry had replaced that at some point. He is resurrecting in me the Fruit of the Spirit also. I’ve found that I’ve become jaded by this last season. My heart had shrunk, and God is expanding my heart again to reflect His.

What needs to be resurrected in you?

‘Do you not know that I have the power to go to my death freely?’ - Nelson Mandela

What a statement! As Christians, you can’t take from us what we have already chosen. My dad would always say “You can't kill a dead man.”

I choose death, the most powerful choice. Many want Christ’s resurrection. You don’t get the resurrection without going through the death first. But when you do, you realize that the point of death was to free you from the fear of dying all along.

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