January 9, 2026
— Augustine · Source: Sermon 169.11.13 (translated from the Latin, PL 38)
Deuteronomy 30:19 Today I call heaven and earth to be my witnesses to you. I have set before you life and death, good and evil. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live.
When God created me, He did not seek my consent; yet in saving me, He respected and called upon my response. This is not because His power was limited, but because His love does not rely on coercion. Deuteronomy 30:19 clearly states that life was already laid before me, but God did not take the step of "choosing" for me. Without God, I have no possibility of salvation; but if I refuse to respond, God does not make me a passive object. True faith is neither the comfort of fatalism nor the pride of self-salvation, but being awakened in grace and responding in responsibility. Every day of obedience is a true "choosing of life."
Lord, you are the God of salvation and the God who respects the human heart. You did not force me, yet continually called me; you have prepared life for me, yet let me choose whether to enter into it. Forgive me for using grace as an excuse and responsibility as a burden. Today I respond to your call again, choosing life, choosing obedience, choosing to walk in your light. Strengthen my heart, that I may believe in you not just once, but live out my faith in my daily choices, so that I and my descendants may survive. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.