An explanation

choosing{life} is what i decided to call this blog.
i thought it deserved some explanation.
[because no, it is not a veiled pro-life reference.]

it comes from a passage of Scripture that has come up again and again in my life over the past year and a half. i think i first heard it at a Duke Lutherans worship.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

15 See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. ¹⁶If 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. ¹⁷But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, ¹⁸I 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. ¹⁹I 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, ²⁰loving 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 to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

two options: life or death.
obeying, loving, and observing leads to life.
turning away leads to death.
walking with Him means living in the Promised Land. it means having a future.
disobeying Him means never reaching that which you were made for,
even if you can see it right in front of you.

this passage has resurfaced in my mind on many occasions,
and it's something i never want to forget.
i'm putting it here so i can be reminded.

it's a choice He's given us.
choose{life}