MEXICAN OR CHINESE? HASH-BROWNS or cottage-fries? Spicy or mild? I have lots of preferences when it comes to what I would like to eat. In fact, the list could get rather long as I think about it, though I will admit that sushi and grubs have not made the list.
Living by my preferences gives me lots of options when it comes to eating out. If they are not serving what I like, I can just change my preference for that meal. That’s one of the benefits of having lots of preferences, when things are not going the way I think they should, I can change to another preference. It’s actually the way most of us live. If something is not going the way we think it should, we just change our belief about that thing.
Living by our preferences can affect various areas of our lives such as our politics, favorite sports teams, television shows, reading material, even places of worship. Some of these areas are really not life-altering, but sadly, dangerously even, living by our preferences can seep into our friendships, our character, and even our relationship with God. When things don’t go our way, or meet our tastes, we easily switch to another preference, or another belief.
Thankfully, people like the Prophet Jeremiah did not live by their preferences, but rather by their convictions. It was Jeremiah’s conviction about the faithfulness and compassion of God that gave him the strength to remain steadfast even from the bottom of the pit. It was his conviction that God’s justice is always tempered by His love that sustained his hope, even in the darkness of times.
When it comes to God and His ways, may we live by our convictions, and in doing so find hope and peace.
That’s my conviction!