“See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” (Deut. 30:15-20)
Life is full of choices. From the time we are born, choices are thrust upon us. Now, making the right choices determine what kind of life we will lead. A life full of God’s blessings or a life of misery and defeat.
Two seconds after birth, we choose whether or not we are going to breath! That loud little cry you first hear is the result of choosing to live. With it comes lot and lots of tender, loving care from parents who have been eagerly awaiting our arrival.
Through the next few years, we choose to obey or not to obey. Our parents; our teachers; college professors, or health providers all offer us choices. Obeying has its many rewards, no matter who it is that tells us what we must do to be and do better, we have a choice as to whether or not we are going to take the advice.
Eventually we face the choice of whether or not to trust Christ as our Saviour. If we choose rightly, then our eternity is settled and we know that we will never have to walk alone again. If not, then life becomes a journey downhill all the way.
We even choose our outlook on life. Sure, hard times come and we learn that old adage, “life is not fair!”. It doesn’t take very long to find this out either. Even at a tender age our playmates cheat us and spurn us and we go running to our parents complaining that “they just are not fair”! We then have the choice to forgive them, move on to another type of friendship with a smile and the knowledge that God loves you or to harbor bitterness in our hearts against them for years. When we choose the latter, our souls shrivel with the passage of years until we become an angry, bitter, lonely old person.
Sometimes we even choose the wrong job or career, and our work never brings the satisfaction we anticipated. Until, that is, we recognize we are not where and what God created us for and we correct the situation. Choosing the highest paying job is not always the way to go. Do you seek God’s will in your work situation also?
Besides becoming a Christian the most important decision or choice you will make is your life’s partner. Don’t go astray of God’s blueprint of the partner he has made for you. “Be ye not unequally yoked together” is an alternative. It is the law God has laid down for searching for someone with whom you will spend the rest of your life. Just as important is the decision to STAY married. Just because you have grounds for a divorce does not mean that you HAVE to get a divorce. God’s WAY is marriage until death do you part.
Many of the problems we have in this life is because of our own choices. THINK and consult God before you choose and your life can become a little of heaven on this earth.
By: Audrey Byars Mullen