Focus: Life By Choice

Text: Dt.30:19

"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."

The life you live, is it by choice or by force? Are you the decider of the kind of life you lead or someone else is? Are you living your life by the force of tradition, of culture, of chance, of impulse, of emotion, of the senses, of public opinion, of societal influence, or of appearances?

There are two types of life: life as it is and life as it was meant to be. 

Life as it is, is man-made alternative, but life as it was meant to be is original and authentic. Life as it is, is a cursed life and death-bound. Life as it was meant to be is divinely designed and lived by choice. It is life filled with divine blessings and incredible bliss. In life as it is, we find curse and death. In life as it was meant to be, we experience the blessings of God.

God wants us to live a life of excellence and dignity and by our own choosing. God made us and knows what is good for us. He knows how best we could enjoy life. He is our maker and master.

Life as it is, is controlled by the god of this world - Satan. Life as it was meant to be is controlled by God. The Lord Jesus Christ says, "I am come that they might have LIFE, and that they might have it ABUNDANTLY." Paul tells us that Christ "is our life." Again he says that "in him we live, move, and have our being."

As long as you live, no time is late to live your life by choice. You can begin now. You can begin from where you are. It is not enough to choose; you must choose rightly and wisely. Making right choices implies choosing what God chooses, loving what He loves, and hating what He hates. You must not repeat the error of Jehoshaphat. The Scripture says, "And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD" (2Chron.19:2). It is written, "Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows" (Heb.1:9; see also, Ps.45:7). Solomon says, "For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD" (Prov.1:29). Again he says, "Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways" (Prov.3:31). 

Evil, envy, oppression, and willful ignorance are not part of life as God intended it. God says, "When I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not" (Isa.65:12). Your choices are meant to be in agreement with God's. You have to "refuse evil and choose the good."

Your decisions determine your destiny. The Lord Jesus Christ tells us that there are two ways: a broad way and a narrow way. Moses makes us understand that there are life and blessings, curse and death, and he wisely counsels us to choose life and blessing, and to reject curse and death. It is vital, like Mary, that you choose the good part.

Choosing life as it was designed to be implies deciding for God. Joshua says, "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" (Josh.24:15). The good life designed by God for us is also centered in Him. You can't have or experience it without Him being at the center of your life. Live your everyday life, making choices that integrate, harmonize or blend heaven and earth in your life.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter