Epiphany

February 10, 2020

Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 30:15-20

See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. –Deuteronomy 30:15-18

Choices—life is always about choices. Eat the apple of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and die. God chose not to follow through on that outcome and Adam and Eve did not die but the story tells us from the beginning of time our lives and the results of our lives depend on our choices—good and evil. The challenge of the world is that choosing the good can seem to have bad results; choosing evil for a time can seem to be the greatest thing in the world.

I do not know if parents still try to teach their children to make good choices. Some I fear encourage, not anything they perceive as evil, but things that are expedient or short cuts to success that really are wrapped in evil. Pursuing these other gods at any costs like greed, power, status in the world, all rank as the ways to get ahead; the ways to be successful in life whether they relate to who one really is or what actualizes their best talents and the deepest desires of their hearts.

God demonstrated God can make choices that are good for others. Good wants us to model those choices in our lives and support good choices in the lives of all God’s children.

Prayer: Lord, guide our choice making and help us support others find your guidance in their choices. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.