THE CHOICE OF LIFE OR DEATH!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY OCTOBER 25, 2024.

SUBJECT: THE CHOICE OF LIFE OR DEATH! 

Memory verse: "I call heaven and earth as witness today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live."  (Deuteronomy 30 vs 19.)

READ: Deuteronomy 30 vs 15 - 20:

30:15: See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil,

30:16: in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgements, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 

30:17: But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them,

30:18: I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess.

30:19: I call heaven and earth as witness today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;

30:20: that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.

INTIMATION:

God is the source and Creator of life, for there is no life apart from God, here and hereafter. The life in us is the gift from Him. And because Jesus is eternally existent with God, the Creator, He too, is “the life” through whom we may live eternally. Jesus said, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life…” (John 14 vs 6.) 

In the passage we read today, Moses, in his farewell address to the Israelites, challenged

them to choose life, to obey God, and, therefore, to continue to experience His blessings. God doesn’t force His Will on anyone. He lets us decide whether to follow Him or reject Him. This decision, however, is a life and death matter. 

God set life and death before His people, Israel, at the borders of the Promise Land. As all people do, the children of Israel had a choice: they could obey God or disobey Him. One choice would lead to life, and the other choice would lead to death.

God, however, created us as free-moral individuals. And the final exhortation to us in Scripture is to make a free-moral decision to choose that which will bring life and good. When one stays close to God, he or she will have life. No eternal life exists outside the presence of God. Therefore, one must choose to come into and continually stay in the presence of God in order to maintain eternal life. Since God is eternal, then Scripture concludes that only those who choose to cleave to Him will enjoy eternal existence in His presence. It is imperative, therefore, that one discover how to come into an eternal relationship with God.

Although the terms of the Old Covenant, according to the passage we read today, were specifically for Israel in the Promised Land and are not applied to all humanity today, the choice is still very much the same. God still sets life and death before us. The Scripture in Romans 6 vs 23 tells us that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Those who accept Christ by faith will experience eternal life and blessing, while those who reject Him will experience eternal death and destruction (John 3 vs 18). There is a clear choice with eternal consequences.

In life we are faced with choices. God has ordained our paths in life, that we may accomplish our predetermined purposes in life in accordance with His Will for us. God doesn't force His Will on anyone. He lets us decide whether to follow Him or reject Him, obey Him or disobey Him. This decision, however, is a life-or-death matter. God wants us to realize this, for He would like us all to choose life. Daily, in each new situation, we must affirm and reinforce this commitment. 

Now remember this, for the ancient Hebrews, life, by definition, was that precisely which proceeded from loving and obeying God.  Therefore, if we choose to serve God, we are choosing life.  Death was defined as the rejection of God. Therefore, if we choose not to serve or obey the Lord, we choose death.  

But we need to understand that our choices affect not only eternity, they affect today as well. If I want to live today, it means that I choose to serve the Lord today.  If I choose not to serve the Lord today, it means that for today I have not chosen life; I have chosen something else, and what follows from that choice will not be the life that comes from God but something else, that is, isolation from Him- which is the same as death. 

Remember, what we choose will be given to us, so let’s be sure to choose to serve the Lord and not some other god, let’s be sure to choose life, so that we will live today and throughout all eternity with the Lord.

Prayer: Abba Father, by You all things consist. And You created all things, including me for Your pleasure. Endue me with the spirit of delightsome obedience to You in all things, that I may please You and live according to Your predetermined purposes for me, and have life more abundantly, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!