Every decision is important. Every choice matters. We do not live in isolation and neither do our choices. Consequences always follow. Our feet always land on a rock, and whether that rock will be to our detriment or to our good is determined with every step.
Just before Moses died and was succeeded by Joshua, God spoke to the people through Moses one last time. He reminded the people of all that God had done for them, and he warned them about the consequences that followed disobedience and the blessings that followed obedience. At the very end of his plea he spoke very powerful words that still ring loudly with truth for us today, “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 30:19)
We first choose life when we, called by God, accept Christ’s sacrifice to cover our sin. We choose life daily when instead of following our sinful desires (James 1:14), we do as Christ told the first disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” (Matt. 16:24).
That said, we cannot do this on our own—we cannot make the choices that give life without Christ who is our life. Nevertheless, we still have face a myriad of choices each day. It is up to us which choices we make. Whether we like it or not, each choice does matter. James chapter 1 reminds us, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”
Today friends, let us not deceive ourselves. Let us look into the perfect law, the law of freedom, and persevere with Christ. Let us come to Christ with a renewed sense of desperation, to cling to His righteousness, to His strength, to His power, to His direction, to His Word, and prayerfully ask Him to help us make each of our decisions to honour Him.
If this seems a daunting task, let us be encouraged today by the Lord’s outstretched hands, when He says to us, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”(Matt. 11:29). Let our song of prayer today echo the Psalmist, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (16:11)
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