Choose Life

Choose Life

Deuteronomy 30.11“For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. 12It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it. 15“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16in 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 judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 17But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18I 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. 19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses 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; 20that 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.”]

What We Understand

Here God wants us to know, the Word is not distant or impossible to understand. It is near them, in their mouth and heart—so they can obey it. God sets before them two choices: ● Life and good — love God, obey His voice, and cling to Him. ● Death and evil — turn away from God and worship other gods.

So God says plainly: “Choose life.” God was calling His people through the Law to follow Him, obey His commandments, and choose the way of life and blessing. God did not hide His will from them. He made the choice clear: love God, obey Him, and live. And the passage points forward to something deeper: “He is your life” Life ultimately comes from being joined to God, not merely from keeping rules.

Even then it required the person to have a relationship with God which would then cause them to follow Him

The Power of Choice

The New Testament, we see an even greater promise revealed. The choice of life is now revealed through Jesus Christ. The book of Romans takes us back to the words of Deuteronomy and shows us that the Word is near us—not something distant or unreachable.

Romans 10:5 For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.” ⁶But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7or, “ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. ¹¹For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” ¹²For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. ¹³For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

For Us We Have to Choose

God has always placed a choice before His people. Life or death, blessing or cursing. He told His people, “Choose life.” But in the New Testament, we see an even greater promise. The choice of life is now revealed through Jesus Christ, not something distant or unreachable. Through faith, we can believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord.

Again this means to follow His voice and His ways and to engrain them into our lives

What Does This Mean For Us?

How can we put all these scriptures into practice to produce life in our lives? It goes back to the power of choice. God again lets us choose each day what we want to think, confess and do. Our actions and words have meaning, confession has power, We all have the power to choose life.

No person has power over us and unless we give it away to them. You choose. Christ through the cross gave us back control and give us back the freedom to choose life [for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. ] But how do we do that practically? We speak it out.

We say what God says in a certain situation. We do it because our actions agree with the will of God. We agree with God’s words and promises for us and about us. Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Here are some practical examples. 1.

When You Have Fear

— 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2.

When You Have Intrusive Thoughts, Bad dreams

— Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:16 “For ‘who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” 3.

When You Worry

— Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

4.

When Your Past Haunts You

— 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” To End We have only one choice each day: Life and good — love God, obey His voice, cling to Him, and choose life in our decisions, our thoughts and our actions.

Choose life and live. Let’s pray.