Tag: Question

There’s a particular question weighing on my heart this Easter, so I’d like to ask you…

Would you choose to live?

Let’s pretend that before you were born, you were given a “preview” of what was in store. After this preview, you could choose if you’d like to live the life shown.

You would see all of the beautiful things life offered. Maybe that includes a spouse, some children, a nice home, a steady job, a community of friends, some dreamy vacations… Anything you’d consider good. Encouraging stuff, right?

Then the bad starts to play. You see all of the loss, hardships, and instability scattered in. They seem immeasurable and so unfair. Worst of all, you learn that your final moments are a far cry from peaceful. Your death will be excruciating, at best. It’s one you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. Yikes…

What would you do? On one hand, you’re overwhelmed with all of the joy and blessings awaiting. On the other, you can’t imagine facing such an agonizing death. No one could blame you if you decided it wasn’t worth it.

I think about this question a lot for my mom. I often wonder if she would have chosen YES to her life knowing how it would end. She died with her body smashed and broken and bleeding. She took her last breath confused and alone, with no loved one nearby to hold her hand. While I’ve visually seen the damage and reports, I’ll never truly know the amount of pain she felt or the final thoughts she had. What I do know is that it was a death that would make me question everything. Did she question it too?

You may be wondering what the point of this question is. Why torture ourselves with hypotheticals and “what if” scenarios? After all, none of us are given a preview. The saying holds weight… “We play the hand we’re dealt.”

But here’s the thing.

Someone WAS given a preview. He knew exactly the life he would live, down to the very second. He knew every good his life would hold. The friendships, the healings, the miracles, and the eternal impact. But he also knew the bad. The betrayals, the brutality, the cross, and the grave. And guess what? He still chose YES.

Wrap your mind around that for a second. Jesus knew it all before it even happened. Imagine getting a preview like Matthew 27 and still choosing YES…

“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!” “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!” Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

I don’t know about you, but I would have taken one glance at that passage and eagerly declined. Flogging? Mockery? Thorns beaten into your skull? Nailed to a cross? That price is too steap for me. Who would willingly choose a life that would end in such a way?

Jesus. That’s who.

Jesus chose that for me. And He chose that for you. He looked at His impending crucifixion and decided our sinful souls were worth it all. You and I were worth the blood. You and I were worth the beatings. You and I were worth the cross.

What love to choose YES.

Now… While we didn’t get a preview of the life we’re currently living, we do get a preview of the eternal life that’s waiting. And good news! This time, we have a choice. John 3:16 proclaims,

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Easter can quickly become all about the baskets, egg hunts, and family gatherings. For many, it’s just another church box to check off for the year. But my prayer for you, friend, is that you take some time to really dwell on the YES your Savior chose for you. And may you choose to say YES right back to Him.