Sublime

"I have put here all the things I have wanted to write all my life. This is 'the book'... Having done this, I can do anything I want."

Do people make meaningful choices? Indeed they do. The Scriptures are full of provocations to choose, like when Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household

Kathy’s and my bed and wept, wondering if she was doing the right thing. She now says, “Our marriage began at the gates of doubt and hell but is now at the gates of Heaven.”

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

There are two ways to be your own Savior and Lord. One is by breaking all the moral laws and setting your own course, and one is by keeping all the moral laws and being very, very good.

To not break free and escape to the hills when times get tough, you must know you’re absolutely dependent on Him for everything.

Jesus gave himself up; he died to himself to save us and make us his. Now we give ourselves up, we die to ourselves, first when we repent and believe the gospel, and later as we submit to his will day by day.

In verses 22–24, Paul says, controversially, that wives should submit to their husbands. Immediately, however, he tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church and “gave himself up for her” (25), which is, if anything, a stronger appeal to abandon self-interest than was given to the woman.