In our Sunday morning sermon today, we will be studying a passage from Deuteronomy where Jehovah sets before Israel a clear choice—life and death. While those words were first spoken to a people stand-ing on the edge of the Promised Land, they remain just as relevant for us today. Spiritual life and death are not only future outcomes; they are directions we move toward through the choices we make every day.
This theme mirrors some of our recent lessons about listening to the right voices and walking in the right paths. Whether we realize it or not, we still face choices regarding life and death, and often we do not recognize that these choices are being made daily—quietly, steadily, and some-times without much thought.
First, I want you to see that life and death appear in the things to which we listen. In our study of John 10, we were reminded of Jesus’ words: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” We listen to many voices around us. Sometimes this happens by proximity, but often it is by choice—through music, television, media, or the people we allow to shape our thinking. We also have a tendency to listen to those who repeat the things we already like to hear. This is quite dangerous since there always seems to be a host of voices telling us what we like hearing. Paul refers to this problem as having “itching ears.” The voices we follow matter, because in listening we are choosing either voices that lead toward life or voices that ultimately lead toward death.
Second, life and death appear in those things on which we dwell. Psalm 1 reminds us “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of scoffers, but whose delight is in the law of Jehovah, meditating on it day and night.” Romans 8:6 states it plainly: “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” There is a reason Philippians 4:8 gives believers a clear list of the things upon which we are to think. What we dwell upon shapes how we think, how we respond, and ultimately the kind of life we live—again placing before us the choice of life in the spiritual, or death in the fleshly.
Next, we see that life and death appear in how we respond, not only to the things that happen to us, but even to the things that happen around us. Prov. 19:16 says, “Whoever keeps the command-ment keeps his life; he who despises his ways will die.” Sometimes the danger is not simply failing to keep God’s commands, but beginning to resent them—hating the things God loves or loving the things God hates. One of the most life-shaping prayers a believer can pray is this: “God, teach me to love the things You love and to hate the things You hate.”
Finally, choosing life means holding fast, not just starting well. Deuteronomy 30:20 tells us that choosing life involves “loving Jehovah your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days.” The problem is that death often creeps in without anyone noticing. Sometimes we are in the middle of living what we believe to be a faithful life before the Lord when, almost imperceptibly, things begin to feel different—shaky, dim, and uncertain.
Hebrews 2:1 warns us of this danger: “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” Rarely does a believer abandon the faith all at once. More often, the drift happens slowly. Satan has a way of whispering in our ear, just as he did to Eve, causing us to question what we know to be true and to do things we once believed we never would. Choosing life, then, is not merely about taking the first steps of obedience, but about remaining vigilant—continuing steadfastly in God’s word and in His will, holding fast to Him, because He alone is our life.
Two Roads
Two roads lie quietly at my feet,
The left seems easy, wide, and sweet.
The right one’s narrow, yet filled with light.
Today, Lord, help me choose the right.