The Decisions for Life and Good

Deuteronomy 30:15
“See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;”

Every decision has consequences or rewards. The verse above shows that your decisions will either lead to you “life and good” or they will result in “death and evil.” Just because you are saved does not take away the consequences of bad decisions. Salvation certainly pays for ALL of your sins, but it doesn’t take away the consequences that bad decisions make. Every time you make a decision, you must realize that the decision you make will either add to your life, or it will take away from your life. In verse 16, you will find the three decisions you must make if you are going to enjoy “life and good.”

First, you must decide to “love the LORD thy God.” To “love the LORD thy God” means to decide to be dedicated and committed to the LORD. Loving the LORD is choosing to be committed to Him no matter what happens in life. In other words, you are committed to loving the LORD even if life doesn’t turn out the way you thought it would when you started serving Him. My friend, your love for the LORD is shallow if you stop serving Him every time life brings adversities. You will never find the good in life by quitting on God in the difficult times. When sickness comes, you must be committed to continue to serve the LORD. When hardships come, you must be committed to continue in spite of the hardships. It takes dedication and commitment to the LORD to continue in spite of life dealing harshly with you. The only way you will have this type of dedication and commitment is by loving the LORD unconditionally.

Second, you must decide to “walk in his ways.” To “walk in his ways” is serving God in His direction. You can’t serve God and be headed towards the world at the same time. The ways of the LORD are a direction, and that direction is a faith-forward direction through service. You can’t expect your life to reap good if you don’t serve the LORD. If your service for the LORD depends on your worldly activities allowing you to serve Him, you will find that serving the LORD will never be convenient. Always remember that serving the LORD is never convenient when you are worldly-focused and not faith-focused. If you want to enjoy the goodness that life can give, you must decide to walk in the LORD’s ways through soul winning, service in your church, and separation from the world.

Third, you must decide to “keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments” to find life and good. In other words, God is saying that you find life through obedience and submission to what God wants you to do. There will be times when you won’t agree with what the LORD wants you to do, but you must submit yourself to the LORD’s way and obey Him if you’re going to find the goodness in life that you so desire. You are going to find that sometimes God’s will is not what your will is, but unless you submit to His will and obey it, you won’t find “life and good.” This could mean that you must burn your bridges to the past and accept a different blueprint that God has planned for your life to find “life and good.” If God must always agree with you for you to obey and submit to Him, you will never find “life and good.”

Let me challenge you to always accept the LORD’s way. You will never go wrong by following the LORD. His way leads to blessings and no regrets. Life and good are always found by walking in the LORD’s way.