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Jul 21, 2022 18:30pm

Choose Life

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There he was…staring me down. His eyes locked on me, watching my every move and plotting his own. I could almost see the fire in his beady little eyes. He strutted and I could tell it was about to be on.

My stomach churned. Fear seemed to almost cripple me. What should I do? Should I run? Should I stay and fight? I had no weapon. And he had two daggers, ready to stab into my leg if given the chance.

In a split second, he charged. I screamed! I turned and ran like the wind. He was closing in. Shaun hollered from a little way away, “don’t run! Turn and kick him!”

Kick him? How could I do that? I pleaded for help, but none came. The only movement came from my attacker, as he began to charge again.

This time, I stood my ground. I pulled back my right foot, just like in the 4th grade playing kickball, and pelted that rooster right in the chest!

Stunned, he shook his head and his feathers, stretched out his wings, and began to charge again. So, I pulled back my foot and I gave it my best Aaron Jackson kick, and I knocked that bird into the air.

He stumbled, shook his feathers and went the other way.

And I lived to tell the story.

In each of us, there is this fight or flight mentality when facing danger. Whether you run or stay to defend yourself, you are still choosing life over death.

That seems like a simple statement. The majority of people will choose life over death. But the part we don’t realize is that every day, we actually do the opposite – we choose death over life.

Our sin leads to death.

“See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” (Deuteronomy 30:15-20)

Choosing sin means choosing death. But to choose to obey the Lord is to choose life! I love verse 20, “for he is thy life, and the length of thy days”.

While the decision seems simple enough, we still make the wrong choice. Just as the Israelites did. They had this whole land before them. It was a beautiful promise from God to provide and protect them. It was a vast land with enough food and places to live for all of them. They would prosper there. But still, they chose sin. Just as we do.

What does sin gain? Any satisfaction from it is only temporary. The only thing eternal about sin is the death that it brings.

If you are searching for hope today, it is only found in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the way! He is the life! Do not be fooled. There is salvation in none other!

Let’s learn from the mistakes of the Israelites. Choose to follow God and obey His will. Today, choose life, choose God, choose eternity!