Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! Deuteronomy 30:19 NLT
Of all the wonderful gifts God has given us, none is more filled with power than the gift of choice. God loves and values us so much that He does not want forced participation. He invites us to follow Him and love Him with a willing heart. After that choice, we will have many more choices to make, some fairly insignificant, but many of them will take our lives in directions that are hard to change. Moses told the people of God after they had wandered in the wilderness for forty years that they were now in the place where God was moving them forward. Now they had to choose what their future would be. Moses laid it out very clearly for them. Of the choices God had given them to make, some would bless them, and some would curse them. The choices would either lead to life or death. Then he urged them to choose life. He told them that the choice that led to life would not only give them life, but it would open the door to life for their family.
We are no different. God has given us life through Christ. Choosing to follow Jesus opens us up to, as he said, “life that is truly life” (John 10:10). But we have to choose to take the steps of wisdom He shows us through His Holy Spirit. When we do, when we make the life-giving choice to live His way, it always leads to life.
The powerful truth is that we not only choose for ourselves, but we also choose for our families, our descendants. Our environments, our attitudes, our perspectives transfer to others. We are formed in community in ways we don’t even fully understand. Daily interactions, conversations, and examples make us into who we are. Our relationships intertwine our lives, and we generally go in the same direction. If we are shaped by people who have healthy habits, we usually make healthy choices as well. If the shapers in our lives have less than healthy and happy habits, we generally go down a disappointing path as well.
A life dominated by anxiety is not the life you want to live, is it? And surely not the life you want to pass on to your children and all those you love. Anxiety kills the joy of life. It destroys peace.
It keeps you from taking the steps toward your dreams. Fortunately, you can choose to build a non-anxious life. Sometimes the choices needed to move away from anxiety will be difficult, but you can do it. These are the choices that lead to the life God wants for you. He will give you the strength and ability to follow through. Choose life.
- The non-anxious life of peace and joy can be your choice. Commit to making a new start this week.