Have You Made the Right Life Choices?

Every day, you are faced with many choices. When you wake up in the morning, you already have to make a choice. Get up right away, or go back to sleep again. Even after you get up , once again you have to choose what you are going to do. Have devotions, clean the house, go to the kitchen, or get ready to begin the morning routine.

So it is true to say that life is a matter of choices. That is why choosing rightly is so important. The right choice will lead us to true life. On the other hand, the wrong choice will lead us to death. The question is, have you made the right choices in this life? 

 

Every Choice Has Consequences

In fact, the Bible itself teaches that you are free to choose. 

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today: I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live.”

But remember that every choice has consequences.

This verse tells the story of Musa who was giving the people of Israela choice, whether to obey the law of the Lord or reject it. They were not forced; they were free to choose. To choose life or death, blessing or curse.

The same is true for you today. You are also free to determine your life choices. However, do not forget, there are always consequences to every choice you make.

Perhaps you would say, “Of course I want to receive life and blessing! How could I possibly choose death and curse?”

The reality is, every day you are always faced with life and death, blessing and curse. What makes it harder is that the choice leading to death always feels sweeter and more beautiful than the one leading to life.

What do choices that lead to death look like, and what do choices that lead to life look like?

Sweet Choices, but Ending in Death

The Deadly Bolton Strid River

In England there is a river called Bolton Strid, which offers a captivating view. 

Bolton Strid has clear and calm water, with a width of 1.8 meters. Anyone who comes there would surely be tempted to take pictures or jump into it. But who would have thought that this river has already claimed many victims.

Why is this river so dangerous? It turns out that behind its calmness, beneath Bolton Strid flows a strong current with many caves and tunnels. Anyone who enters the river will be pulled in and carried away by the powerful current.

Like the Bolton Strid River, there are choices that seem beautiful and sweet, but in the end they bring harm. Let us look at them together.

Obsessed with Ambition and Worldly Dreams

Proverbs 15:21 There is a way that seems right to a person, but in the end it leads to death.

This world offers various opportunities and dreams. They seem perfectly fine, and there appears to be nothing wrong with them. Yet, as the verse above says, such choices may end in death.

There are so many choices from the world: having more money, becoming more famous, achieving successquickly, and so on. They seem perfectly fine, don’t they? The problem is, if we are not careful, we can be deceived.

Perhaps you think, my life choices are logical, after all. I just want to be successful, make my familyhappy, have plenty of money so life will not be hard. What is wrong with that?

What is wrong is when you become obsessed with achieving all of that, to the point of justifying any means. You leave your relationship with God, forget to worship, and even compromise with sin. You are no longer able to love God with all your heart. Without realizing it, your spiritual life slowly grows weak, even dies.

So think carefully about what you want to pursue. Choose as wisely as possible, so that you will not be swept away by the current of the world.

Enjoying Empty Pleasures

Ecclesiastes 3:12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to rejoice and enjoy the good things in their lives.

There are people who think that life is only once. Therefore, they do not want to waste the opportunity to have fun. So they choose to seek pleasure, even if it means not having to struggle or work. What they think about is how they can be happy. They are even willing to make life difficult for others, such as their family, spouse or even their own children.

1 John 2:17 And the world is passing away with its desires, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

As the verse above says, all the pleasures and enjoyments of this world are empty. This kind of life will ultimately give you nothing. Moreover, how will you later be accountable to God for your life?

The good news is that you still have a choice in this life. Come out and avoid all empty lusts and desires. While there is still time, leave all of it behind. Remember, the choice is in your hands. You can choose what kind of life you want to live.

The Choice to Please God's Heart

Now let us turn to the choice that leads to life.

Joshua 24:15 But if it seems evil to you to worship the Lord, choose this day whom you will worship: whether the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my household, we will worship the Lord!

In the verse above, Yosua declares to the people of Israel that they may choose to worship God or other gods. However, Yosua affirms that he and his household will worship only the Lord. 

This is certainly not an easy choice. Yosua could have chosen to worship the gods of the nations around them. He could have done so in order to be accepted. Yet Yosua still chose to worship the Lord. Yosua chose to keep pleasing the Lord, because from Him Yosua received true life.

What is true life? It is when all of God's plans are fulfilled in our lives. Our lives align with the word of God, and we become a light to the people around us. To receive it, as with Yosua, pleasing the Lord is an absolute requirement.

Today, you also have a choice regarding your life. Will you choose to pursue ambition or worldly pleasures? Or to please the Lord's heart? If you long to see God's promisespromises fulfilled in your life, choose a life that pleases the Lord.

In the end, you are the one who must make the choice. Have you made the right life choices? Do not choose wrongly; choose the life that pleases the Lord's heart!

Reference: https://travel.okezone.com/amp/2020/06/11/406/2228521/bolton-strid-jeram-indah-paling-berbahaya-di-dunia?page=2 -  Related Articles:

• Perseverance, a Choice That Bears Sweet Fruit
• Your Ambition: Healthy or Unhealthy? Your Ambition: Friend or Foe?
• Are Your Life Priorities Right?
• Becoming a Person Pleasing to the Lord's Heart
• Can We Understand the Lord's Feelings?

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