The Choice is Up To YOU!

I had a really sweet and intimate dream about Piper the other morning.  I awoke soon afterwards and rolled over on my back and simply smiled as I thought about the experience and cherished every moment of the dream.  As I pondered our wonderful past together, I suddenly looked to my present and future and decided right then and there, that I was going to CHOOSE LIFE… now without her… just as we had made a commitment early on in our marriage to CHOOSE LIFE and then pursue it together for 48 years.

In Deuteronomy 30:19, Moses had gathered the people of Israel for a final word of encouragement as they had come to the end of the first part of their long journey out of captivity in Egypt and were about to enter the land that God had promised them.  In this verse he boldly declared: “I call on heaven and earth as witnesses today that I have offered you life or death, blessings or curses. CHOOSE LIFE so that you and your descendants will live.” (God’s Word ©) 

It is interesting to me that just as all but three of the Israelites had never known any other life than the one they had left, I too have known no other life for the entirety of my adult life than being with Piper.  So, Moses’ advice seemed to be very apropos to me today as it did to them many years ago!

As I wrote about in my last blog post (“Today” 4/14/21), the proposition that Moses made to the Children of Israel had to do with a very specific time period… TODAY!  But I also believe that it was a decision that he was encouraging them to make, not only for that particular day… but then again, fresh and anew, every other day for the rest of their lives.

Another point that caught my attention was that Moses called upon the residents of both heaven and the earth to act as witnesses to the decision the people made.  How were those residents to know which decision was made by the people back then or by us in current times?  Well, simply by observing the way that you think, speak and act… in other words… the way you live your life!  It was made painfully aware to Piper and I when she got sick, which people had CHOSEN LIFE and which one’s had not.

The one’s who had not, were oftentimes depressed, sad, negative, quiet and occasionally argumentative about our situation.  To be perfectly honest, they were very difficult and unpleasant to be around!  The individuals who had made the decision to CHOOSE LIFE tended to look at our situation with a totally different mind-set.  They were usually happy, encouraging with their words and corresponding actions, and very supportive to our faith as well as with the medical procedures and courses of action that we chose to follow.  We discovered that it was fairly simple to see what life course decision different people had made.

The more I studied this verse, the more aware I became of the very clear fact that Moses only offered the people two decisions.  There was no third option!  The commentary in the Sermon Bible for this verse states, “there is no middle space; it must be life or death. Because life is everything. All that is worth having in this world or the next is in that word ‘life.’ ‘Therefore choose life.’"

In the original language, the word CHOOSE is defined as “to select, to elect, or to decide for yourself.”  It is the action verb in the statement and describes the action needed to be taken concerning the subject of the sentence.  It is a personal decision concerning which action we will take in our daily lives.  For me, it is a first-thing-in-the-morning decision that sets the attitude of my mind for that day.  If you’re anything like me, then you know that it can be very hard to live an uplifting day TODAY… with yesterday’s (getting a little stale) encouragement! 

It can be likened to saving a few moments of time in the morning and simply pouring some of the day-old coffee left over in the carafe, into a mug and warming it up in the microwave.  YUK!  There’s nothing like the flavor of a fresh brewed cup of coffee wafting into your senses and ahhhh… that first sip… YUMMMMMMMM!

I think that this is the same type of feeling and satisfaction that the Lord wants us to make fresh and anew each day… to CHOOSE LIFE or death.  What shall it be?  John Gill says that Moses is encouraging us to “prefer obedience to God’s Word and CHOOSE to perform it – to which the consequence is life.”  John Wesley wrote, “They shall have life that CHOOSE it – they that CHOOSE the favor of God and communion with Him - shall have what they CHOOSE!”

And lastly… I noticed that Moses wrapped up his encouragement by not only giving us a huge hint as to which CHOICE to make, but also let us know how that decision would directly affect others, when he… with a wink or two, I would think… said something like, “Hint! Hint!”  “…CHOOSE LIFE so that you and your descendants will live.”

So, which will you CHOOSE today… or tomorrow… or the day’s after that?  Will it be a positive affirmation of the Zoe kind of life that the Bible describes?  A life that is defined in the Greek as “the absolute fulness of life, life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ…” (Thayer’s) or death and the sadness, depression and negativism that goes hand in hand with that decision?

Hummm… I know which one I CHOOSE… How about you?

Have a good weekend, and as you do, keep expecting God’ best each day!