Choose Life
My days are getting to sound fairly routine; working in the yard, getting in a swimming workout. I did watch a few plays of the Broncos preseason game. It looks like their backups are doing a good job. It has been nice to be on our patio the past couple of days. The place we would have spent most of our time in the summer has been a rare treat of late.
Compared to a year ago, when I was stuck in bed, immobile and on life support, I am thankful for my “routine.” What I accomplish actually gives me a sense of visual gratification, even though it takes longer than normal.
It was during these past few days when my condition a year ago had my family worried and wondering what the future would hold. Christian even asked me at one point if I felt like “giving up.” I’m glad that I said “no” and was able to “choose life.”
 Bible Verse for Today… “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you…But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it…I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days…”                         Deuteronomy 30:11,14,19-20
Moses is addressing the generation of the Children of Israel that will go in and occupy the promise land. The generation that were slaves in Egypt, saw the miracle of the plagues and crossed the Red Sea are dead. Their own words sealed their fate. They complained to Moses that God wasn’t able to do what He promised and that they would die in the wilderness. So God said, “Have it your way. You will die in the wilderness and your children will inherit the land.”
As this new generation prepared to move into the inheritance promised by God, the covenant is renewed, the law God gave Moses is reaffirmed. The blessings and curses for the life they will now choose are laid out before them. The commandment was too hard for them to fully obey in their own strength. But if they trusted the Lord, relied on His strength, they would be successful in their obedience.
The call from Moses is to simply, “choose life!” That life is embraced by loving God, obeying His voice and holding fast to Him. The ramification of the decision was for them and their children. While parents disobedience doesn’t have the final say about God’s grace and work in children’s lives, parents have a God-given responsibility to understand that the choices they make impact them and their children.
As we read the biblical account we realize that the Children of Israel could not keep themselves away from idols and remain fully committed to the Lord. They were no more successful than the alcoholic or drug addict resisting the temptation brought on by their addiction and environment. The downward pull on the sinful heart was too great for the majority and eventually even Kings to resist.
That is why a Savior came to our rescue. He came through this people, chosen by God, who saw the miraculous, were tested and failed, experienced God’s mercy when they called on Him and ultimately experienced God’s removal from this land that was promised until their hearts became weary of the idolatry and emptiness of their ways.
This Savior did what no other was able to do. Live in complete obedience to the Lord’s will and His ways. As a result, He became the sacrifice for all of our sins. Because of Christ’s death on the cross for our sin, the call still reverberates through the ages, “choose life!”
When we choose life through choosing Christ, God’s Holy Spirit comes to live in us. That is what gives us the strength to follow, to love and to obey the Lord. It is not will power; it is the will to surrender. Not surrender to my natural desires, but surrender to the supernatural strength that comes only from Christ in the center of life. When you do that you find the fulfillment of Moses’ promise, “He is your life and the length of your days.”