I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live… Deuteronomy 30:19
Each day, we all face a seemingly endless number of decisions we must make. According to the University of North Carolina’s Science Now, the average person may make as many as 35,000 remotely conscious decisions per day. Obviously, most of these decisions are functions of our mental “autopilot” as we could not possibly think consciously about so many choices. This means that the lion’s share of the choices we make each day are of little consequence to the ultimate trajectory of our lives.
On the other hand, there are many decisions which have tremendous implications for our present and future existence. Indeed, some of these can completely alter or end our lives on this earth. These choices are like standing at the crossroads where we will go one of two definitive directions and end up in one of two possible destinations. In these moments, making the right choice is not just preferable, it is essential.
For instance, one wrong choice while driving down the interstate can bring about serious consequences for us and others sharing the roadway with us. The catastrophe at Chernobyl in 1986 was the result of poor choices by people working with one of the most powerful substances on earth. The result was widespread death and disease in the immediate aftermath as well as continued problems such as birth defects, cancer, etc. still lingering almost forty years later. Every day, lives prematurely end or face unnecessary challenges because of choices people make that negatively impact their health: drugs and alcohol, poor diet and exercise, sexual promiscuity, thrill seeking, toxic relationships, etc.
The list above could go on and on, but this is sufficient to illustrate the point. Of all the choices that we make in our lives, none is more crucial than the choices we make in the realm of morals, ethics, and religion. In Genesis 2:15-17, God gave Adam a choice of obedience or rebellion with the clear consequences being life or death. Sadly, in Genesis 3, Adam and Eve chose rebellion and death over obedience and life. Later, in Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Moses reiterated God’s word that He was setting before them life and good, death and evil. The entire purpose of this section was to urge them to choose life. As the subsequent history of Israel shows, they made the wrong choice and ultimately went into captivity. They chose the wrong way at the crossroads.
Psalm 1 acts as an introduction to the entire book of Psalms as well as a reflection on the content of the whole of the Bible. In it, humanity is divided into two types of people with two possible ends to their lives. The righteous refuse to pursue the counsel and deeds of the wicked with the resultant blessing of being like a tree planted beside a river. Such a one is fruitful, healthy, and productive (vv. 1-4). The wicked on the other hand, are not so. Ultimately, these shall not stand in the judgment but rather their way shall perish (vv. 5-6).
In the New Covenant, Paul makes the same point though using different wording to illustrate the principle. In Romans 6:16, he describes the human spiritual condition as a choice between two masters. We may choose to be servants of sin leading to death or obedience leading to righteousness. This is the most significant crossroads to which any of us shall ever come. What we do in these moments is the most crucial of all. Each day, Satan wants to entice us to veer off the narrow way that leads to life and reroute us onto the broad way that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14). While a poor driving decision may lead to an untimely death or other physical malady, a poor choice of masters leads to eternal death. Let us all choose wisely when approaching the crossroads of eternity.