"Choice Wisdom”

Deuteronomy 30:19, 20
Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live! Choose to love the LORD your God and to obey Him and commit yourself to Him, for He is your life. (NLT)

Although this message from God (spoken through Moses) is directed to His people Israel, it is also, I believe, a message for everyone, including those who believe in the LORD our God; the One and only true God; the One who created everything that exists. The choice that stands before God’s created people today involves our God in the flesh, Christ Jesus. We must choose either Jesus or the world as our pathway for life; a choice that is not easily made for many of us. Just like the people of Israel, our sinful natures tend to point us first to the world for both our needs and to fulfill our desires; until that is, the day when we discover that the world only leaves us empty and desperate for something better—something that it can never give us—Hope and Peace! As far as I can tell, our gracious and mighty God desires nothing more than to give all His children the gift of eternal life (1 Timothy 2:3-4). For just as God desired to give His people Israel the land of milk and honey, so too, does God want all His created people to enjoy our true Home in Heaven with Him. And just as Jehovah choose Abram to Father the nation of Israel to be His chosen people (Genesis 12:1-2, Deuteronomy 14:2), Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, has come on our behalf and made it possible, through His sacrificial death on the cross, for many peoples of all nations to become God’s chosen people as well (Ephesians 2:12-13).

A Whisper of Hope

Choose wisely, My child…for it is a matter of life and death. The world with all its temptations will try and draw you away from the Truth, but fear not; because I have overcome the world for you, whom I call My own. The immediate pleasures that the world is able to deliver for you can feel good now, but the end results are indeed deadly in themselves. Do not focus on the here and now, dear child, instead, patiently look forward to the wonderful future I have promised for you.

1 Timothy 2:3-4
For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (NKJ)

Genesis 12:1-3
Then the LORD told Abram, “Leave your country, your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. I will cause you to become the father of a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and I will make you a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you. (NLT)

Deuteronomy 14:2
“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” (NKJ)

Ephesians 2:12-13
In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from God’s people, Israel, and you did not know the promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. But now you belong to Christ Jesus. Though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought near to Him because of the blood of Christ. (NLT)