Choose Life

Have you ever wondered if you might have done things differently in the Garden of Eden if you were the one there instead of Adam or Eve? God told them not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. That instruction was simple enough! Maybe you feel that you would have listened to God, right? I mean, why risk death just to get a bite of a fruit!

I sometimes think that I wouldn’t have been so gullible and easily swayed by the serpent. But then I remember something that happened recently. Every morning, the people at office meet on a video call to read the devotional for the day and pray together. While we waited for everyone to
join, I saw my colleague, on another little square, munching on something. There was a box of fried chicken near her and that was it! I couldn’t get my mind off chicken. I wanted some fried-chicken, and I wanted it now! That’s all I was thinking about throughout the meeting. And after
the call, I couldn’t resist the urge to order some. It was humbling to realize that things as simple as that can tempt me.

We’re all easily tempted by the things we come across everyday. This is actually a key idea in marketing. When someone else, a celebrity or a friend, has something, maybe a new gadget, an accessory or even a piece of chicken, we may rationalize and convince ourselves on why we really need it even though we kind of know we don’t. We fix our eyes on it, it becomes our goal and sometimes, we even reorganize our life in such a way that we get it sooner rather than later.

In addition to the things we are attracted to, our emotions, mood, and thoughts are influenced by the people around us as well. And it takes little effort to give in. For instance, when we’re angry, and there’s the temptation to lash out, it’s easier to just yell than to keep our cool and speak with love. Or when we feel challenged, the words that will put someone else down and make us feel better are already on the tip of our tongue when compared to words that can encourage someone else. It can be so difficult to keep our hurtful words in!

The point is that the temptation to do something that God tells us not to is always around. Which also means the choice to do the right thing is also always there.

Choose Wisely – God’s Way

In the Bible, God gave His commandments to the people of Israel through Moses. Just when they were at the brink of the promised Land, Moses gave a speech reminding the people of all that God had commanded. That’s the book of Deuteronomy.

Towards the end of his speech, Moses said, “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction” (Deuteronomy 30:15). If they chose to love God and to walk in obedience to Him, they’d have life because, as Moses explained, “the Lord is your life” (VV.16–20).

But if they turned away from Him and served something else or didn’t obey God, they’d face destruction (VV.17–18). So, Moses urges them to “choose life” (V.19). If you read on through the Old Testament, you’ll know how the people respond. Like Adam and Eve, they didn’t always
choose life.

From the New Testament time onwards choosing life meant trusting Jesus, loving Him and obeying Him because Jesus is our life (John 14:15–23). In everything we do and say today, we can choose to speak or act the way that Jesus would want us to. The other option is to give in to the temptation to do things that feel natural, good and easy right now. But that path eventually leads to death (Romans 6:23).

The choice between life and death can look like common, casual decisions. Like when people gather together to gossip or make fun of someone, and we’re tempted to join in. We choose life when we avoid engaging in that and instead love all people and speak to everyone the way God loves and speaks to us (Ephesians 4:29–32). Or when someone wrongs us, there’s the temptation to respond in anger. We choose life by allowing God to deal with the situation rather than by us dealing with it (Romans 12:14–21).

Every day, we get to make the decision to choose between Jesus and the passing fads of the world. Everyday, we get the opportunity like Adam and Eve to choose between life and death, but like Moses said let us “Now choose life”!

– Ann Harikeerthan