You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever. Psalm 23:5-6

Picture this: you’re invited to a party and the host motions for you to come to the front. On the way you pass your enemies. They glare at you as you pass them. Your host smiles and ushers you to a seat near the front, lavishes you with gifts and food. You glance around and your enemies are fuming. That the picture I have of this verse.

But it doesn’t end there.

After you’ve eaten the food and opened the presents, you realize that you can be feasting like this in the presence of your host every day of your life. When you fall your host will be by your side to pick you up. When you weep, your host will weep with you. While your days may be stressful and busy, you can always go to the head of the room day in and day out. And your enemies, they’ll watch and fume as you walk past them.

The truth is, this is the life we can choose to live if we wanted. No, not all our days will be cheery and stress free. Not all our days will end in praise to God. But those days are there if we choose.

You see, we can choose to be bitter or we can choose to let it go. We can choose to walk with Christ moment by moment or we choose not to (or anywhere in between). We can choose to dwell in the house of the Lord or we can choose to stand outside the house and hope someone notices us.

While I know the answer to this question should be obvious, maybe it’s not: which pathway do you choose?