A Matter of Life and Death

Deut. 29-30; Psalm 78:1-31; Proverbs 12:19-20

 

When people finally get to the point where they’re willing to ask for help—when their electric bills scare them, when their pantries are practically bare—they often act as though their needs are a matter of life and death. Because they can see that they will soon be without electricity or without stores of food, people ask for help with urgency. And these situations are painful. They are difficult. But rarely are they so serious that the people experiencing them will die without immediate help. Still, they feel the urgency of their difficulties. Praise God! We are usually able to help quickly at Sojourn.

 

But there is a life and death matter people often do not see. All around us, people do not know God. They do not know Jesus Christ. They do not admit that He is Lord. They do not trust Him. They do not obey Him. And this life and death reality is all the more dangerous because usually the people on the path to death don’t realize it. They don’t realize that their relationships with God are bankrupt, that their spiritual electricity is already cut off, that their store of spiritual food is completely empty. They are not desperate for life, so they do not beg for help.

 

Moses told the Israelites:

This day I call heaven and 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,… - Deut. 30:19-20a

 

Jesus Christ, our God, is our life. Yet so often we see people around us choose to pursue other relationships, other leaders, other things instead of Jesus. We face those same temptations. God has set life and death before us, and we have responded as though it’s not that urgent.

 

Father, I choose life. Thank You for graciously speaking to me when I was so spiritually blind that I didn’t realize my situation was desperate, for letting me know that my cupboards are bare, my electricity’s off, and no one but You can help me. Thank You for offering to help me, for wanting to help me, for getting into my life and telling me about my need and urging me to come to You. You’re right. My situation’s grave, and I didn’t even know it. Be my life. And may many others hear Your warnings and choose life with You, too.