Choose Life

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying him and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob."

(Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

Moses was spent. He gave all he had to both God and the people God had called him to lead. There were lots of (spiritual) highs... and lots of (spiritual and relational) lows. At numerous times, Moses wanted to quit and throw in the towel. But God kept him going.

Near the end of his life, knowing he wasn't going to be able to make it into the Promised Land with the rest of the Hebrew people, Moses lays out his final words of challenge and encouragement to the people. He outlines both blessings and curses that could befall folks, depending on the choices they make. And then he wraps things up by summarizing: You have two options - life and death... blessings and curses. "CHOOSE LIFE!" he encourages them! "So that you may live long in the land." Stay close to God. Let Him be your guide. Wise advice.

We're in a time in this global pandemic where people are antsy and eager to get back to "normal life." The $65k question, however, is... is it too soon? (Not to mention, will we ever get back to what we once thought was "normal"?) What's the wisest course of action for helping reopen our economy... while at the same time still taking precautions to prevent the rampant spread of the virus. People have very strong opinions of the matter (myself included).

The bottom line is this... we need to make choices that lead to LIFE, not death... blessings, not curses. The UMC has long held the triple adage: "Do good. Do no harm. Stay in love with God." May we all seek to "do no harm" as we move through the pandemic together.