3 Ways to Choose Life Today

Each day presents us with hundreds of choices. Coffee or tea (or neither), hit the snooze or greet the day, work out or turn on the TV, open the Word or just keep moving – just to name a few. Some of these decisions we make without much help from our conscious thought process. I know when I hit the snooze three times in a row, it’s definitely my sleep-deprived body making the choice for me.

In a similar way, there’s another choice underlying a majority of our actions and our words every day. A choice that for me, more often than not, is automatic and happens without much thought at all.

The choice between life and death.

I don’t mean this in the literal sense of peril, but definitely in the spiritual sense. Do you know you face the choice between life and death every single day? It’s not something I had at the forefront of my mind until recently, reading through the beginning of the Old Testament when Moses is sharing the laws of the covenant with the Israelites in Deuteronomy 30:

“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” (verses 19-20)

The laws given in the original covenant at Mt. Sinai were placed before the Israelites as a way to be distinct culturally and spiritually from all other nations at the time – to be set apart as God’s treasured possession. Sometimes it is easy to look at all the lists of crazy detailed laws and restrictions in the books of the Pentitude and think God had ridiculous standards and fall into a legalistic-type view, but God put those things into place as a way for Israel to be His people and for Him to dwell with them and be their God. He didn’t make them follow these laws – he left the choice with them, letting them know full well the two paths they could choose: life or death.

In looking at these laws, I don’t see them as checklists or a reward system with God saying, “Hey Israel, do all of these things and in return I will do A, B, and C for you!” I see them as a way God was looking out for His people, to draw them to Himself and call them higher and to set them apart from the other nations as holy – as His.

In Deuteronomy 30:19-20, the emphasis is on a relationship with God – hearing his voice, holding tight to him! In verse 20 when Moses says, “For the Lord is your life…” I am reminded of what Paul tells the church at Colossae under the new covenant, “Christ, who is your life…” (Col. 3:4)

See a theme? Across the old and new covenant the central piece is a relationship with God who is the source of life, the giver of life, the way to life!

So, now I get back to my original statement about choices and choosing life or death. Choices that build up or tear down. Choices that create or destroy.

I’m going to give you three examples of simple ways to choose life today (and every day) and maybe you will get a better idea of what I mean.

1. Spend time in the Word, praying through a Psalm or a passage out loud. This one may feel a bit like a Sunday School answer to some of you, but I can’t begin to describe the difference it will make in your life when you do this every day for a week, a month, and years to come. The power of life and death is in the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). Reading God’s word out loud and actually taking time to be with the Author of Life daily will help renew your mind daily and start to change you from the inside. Set yourself up for success and start each day with Him. Speak out His truth over your life and over the lives of others. It makes all the difference in the world. Don’t believe me? Start doing it and find out for yourself.
2. When you find yourself complaining, stop and turn it to thankfulness. It’s in these moments we can shift our focus off what is dragging us down, off of ourselves and look up. Look up at His face and take a moment to remember all He has done and all He is doing. This past week I was on my way to work (it’s a half hour commute on a good day) and traffic was stopped right when I got on the freeway – not a good sign. People weren’t letting others merge, a guy was riding my tail, and I let out about six exasperated sighs as my eyes frantically looked back and forth between the clock and the blocked roadway in front of me – I was going to be so late. I started complaining about the traffic out loud and saying mean things to the drivers around me and what had started as a pretty good morning turned sour. My brows furrowed in frustration and I bit my lip as I do when anxiety kicks in. After fifteen minutes of letting this frustration get to me, I decided to pray out loud. I didn’t feel like it, but I knew I needed to stop spewing death left and right. For the next 30 minutes I thanked Papa for the little things and the big things. I was thankful for a job and car to drive to get to work. I was thankful it wasn’t snowing, making the commute even slower. I was thankful for the people in my life and my words turned to prayers uplifting people the Holy Spirit laid on my heart. Before I knew it I was at my office building and I hadn’t given a second thought to the slow traffic. My heart felt light again as I entered the building for another day of work. Even the littlest moments, like being stuck in traffic, can be a choice of life and death, for yourself and for those around you. Choose thankfulness in those moments. Consciously stop yourself from speaking death. It changes your heart and the atmosphere around you.
3. Look a stranger in the eye – really see them – and smile. Take your earbuds out, put the screen away, and take a look at the world around you. On your lunch break, in the hallways at school or work, at the grocery store, you have the power to impact someone’s day. Have you ever been a little wary to give that stone-faced woman at the coffee shop a smile, do it anyway, and witness how her whole countenance changes when she smiles back?? It’s incredible. If you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, may you never forget that the Holy Spirit lives inside you – He wants to shine through your words, your voice, your eyes! Will you let Him? Pray and ask the Father to give you His eyes – it will wreck you in the best way.

These are just three simple examples I have seen in my own life. What are some ways you have chosen life? Please share your experiences and nuggets of wisdom with the rest of us in the comments below!