At a few distinct times in life we face major decisions. What career to pursue? Move away for a job or stay put? Marry or remain single? What about children? Is it time to overhaul my lifestyle in light of my health?

After a long teaching session concerning blessings for those who follow God and curses waiting for those who stiff-arm him, Moses laid out a simple choice for the children of Israel:

This day I call the heavens and the 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 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.

While Moses drew this line in the sand for a people gathered around him, his challenge hangs before those who claim to follow Jesus today. Do I choose to follow the ways of the Lord or the ways of the world? Will I trust the Lord when he says blessings follow obedience, or trust myself to forge my own way?

Amazingly, God grants us this choice, and along with Moses I encourage you to now choose life.

Deuteronomy 30 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Brendan Church