2023_05_08 Insight Post- Kim Feld

¹⁹ “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! ²⁰ You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20, NLT)

In this week’s reading, Moses shares God’s words with the people, describing how an obedient life is contrasted with a life of disobedience. He tells the people they can decide whether to be blessed or cursed. Reading the verses above, I realize God gives me that choice daily. His desire is that I choose life.

You and I have decisions to make every day regarding how we will live. We make those decisions moment by moment. Last week we read Galatians 5, where Paul contrasts the life led by the Spirit with the life led by the flesh. He gave a list of things that result from living according to our sinful nature. Take a look at Galatians 5:19-21, NLT:

¹⁹ When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

Paul contrasted the outcome of the sinful nature with the fruit of the Spirit’s work in our lives in Galatians 5:22-23:

²² But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Loving God, obeying Him, and committing to Him is the pathway to life. By doing those things, we choose life over death, and that’s when the Spirit can change and develop us deeply from the inside out. So, what does it look like to choose life today? For example, when faced with the choice of telling the truth or lying, I can choose the truth even when I believe it might be uncomfortable. When angry, I can decide to weigh my words carefully before I speak them instead of allowing my anger to come out in harsh words and tones. I can choose to exercise self-control instead of giving in to the desires of my flesh. These are just a few examples, but by choosing to follow the Spirit instead of my desire to win or have my way, I am choosing to love, obey, and commit to my Savior. Easy? No way. But as Moses said, “This is the key to your life.”

Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach