Choices

“Choices” Deuteronomy 30:15-20 1/19/25 a.m.

This week I was whining about what to preach on. I have a funeral tomorrow that I have to preach and I have this morning and this evening to preach. Please believe me when I say the struggle is real. For me, it is the hardest part of being a pastor. Trying to HEAR from God on what He would have me preach. So I walked downstairs and I was whining, “Oh man, what am I going to preach on Sunday?” And Abby was standing there and she said, “Wal-Mart and Dollar General. Why you should shop at Dollar General and not Wal-Mart.” Thanks Abbie!!!Sometimes I don’t know what I would do without her!!!

But that got me to thinking. We all make HUNDREDS of decisions everyday. What to wear, what to eat, where to go, what to watch and so on. And, I believe, there are many times that there is a RIGHT DECISION and a WRONG DECISION. But I also believe that there are times when God basically says, “I don’t care. Do what you want.” You see, I don’t think God cares if I have a Chicken Salad Sandwich or a Turkey on Rye.” I care, everyone knows Chicken Salad is better, but I don’t think God cares.

And I don’t think God cares whether I shop at Wal-Mart or Dollar General. But there are some things that God does care about. There is a RIGHT CHOICE and a WRONG CHOICE. And that’s what I want to talk to you about this morning. Turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy Chapter 30.

We’ll start reading at Verse 15 and we’ll read to the end of the Chapter.

“See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;

16 In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.

17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;

18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.

19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

20 That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

This Chapter, Deuteronomy 30, is part of Moses’s farewell speech to the Nation of Israel. He knew that he would soon die.

And, in fact, he does die just 4 Chapters later in Chapter 34. And so Moses with some of his last words to the Nation of Israel explains to the people that there is a CHOICE for them to make.

Verse 15 tells us that there is a choice between LIFE and DEATH and GOOD and EVIL.

Verse 19 tells us that there is a choice between LIFE and DEATH. BLESSING and CURSING.

Listen, there are folks out there who are 5 point Calvinists. Most Presbyterians. Some Baptists. Others. They believe that God created some to go to Heaven and some to go to Hell. Can I tell you what the Bible teaches? God created ALL of US to go to HEAVEN. Jesus died for ALL.

Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

But God didn’t create ROBOTS to only do what they were PROGRAMMED to do. He created YOU and I with a FREE WILL. And that’s why we have CHOICES, DECISIONS to make in this life that will affect us for all eternity.

So should you shop at Wal-Mart or Dollar General? Casey’s or Quik Trip? Tractor Supply or Atwoods?

I don’t care and I don’t think God cares either. But there are some things that God does care about and that’s what I want to talk to you about this morning. But before we do let’s go to the Lord in Prayer.

Brother ____, would you lead us?

First of all, I want to make a statement. To CHOOSE not to CHOOSE is a CHOICE. And that CHOICE takes away all of the other CHOICES.