Some may say I have been living a double life for most of my 78 years. 😊

When we left Zimbabwe for Bible School in England, we didn’t know that we had permanently traded the familiar for the unfamiliar, and that we had left the known ways of our ancestors for the sometimes-unsettling challenge of fitting in with other cultures. We went from Christmas in summer, chasing the heat in the swimming pool, to Christmas with iced-over ponds and a fire in the grate, but because our hearts burned with the call, every new experience just fueled that fire. Fifty years later, retirement is our new reality and we keep saying, with joyful assurance, "No regrets!"

However, since most of our family still live in Africa, this has meant frequent trips back, and we have maintained a home in the beautiful Western Cape, because of it. The journey is long and gets longer every year, but I keep encouraging myself that one of these days I will be able to just pack my handbag and laptop, and go. But it’s a proven case of living with two mindsets, not a comfortable thing – shall I take this or is something like it already at the other house? 😊 Truly, I look forward to the day when I live in just one place again!

Some decisions are more difficult than others but if we are wise, we look beyond ourselves to the giver of all wisdom and HIS  ‘still, small voice’ never fails. It would seem that taking a stand once and for all is something that does not come easily to the human mind and a great deal of good parenting is teaching our children  ‘yes’ means ‘yes’ and ‘no’ means ‘no’. If we waiver, our children will not feel safe. One of the great markers of maturing understanding is when we no longer look to others to choose for us. This is one of the reasons I abhor the powerful role of so-called ‘influencers’ on social media.

God repeatedly challenged Israel to make a choice and stick with it. Joshua: “Now therefore, fear the LORD…. Serve the LORD!...choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

It seems God’s chosen people had difficulty sticking with this choice because along came another fiery messenger, Elijah: “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!”

Maturity in Christ is marked by being able to make the God-pleasing choice, and stick with it, no matter how our flesh resists! So, Paul writes this to us today: “…we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.”

Amen Paul! Amen!

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