Choose life
"But as for you who forsake the Lord and forget my holy mountain, who spread a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny, I will destine you for the sword, and all of you will fall in the slaughter; for I called but you did not answer, I spoke but you did not listen. You did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me.” Isaiah 65:11-12 NIV
God reached out with His love yet there are those that did not respond. “I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me...I said, ‘Here am I, here am I’” (Isaiah 65:1). Instead, they “forsake the Lord and forget my holy mountain.” They did not recognize His authority over their lives and they will not trust God for their future. They turned to gods that promised material wealth and they offered to them their observance of religious rituals; “who spread a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny.” They ignored the fact that it is the One true God who will determine their destiny. Time and again, God had called them to turn to Him as He has given them the opportunity to do so. “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon” (Isaiah 55:6-7). Isaiah explained to them that what God wants them to do is that they listen and believe His word and do what pleases Him. Yet, they ignored and neglected God. “You did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me” (Isaiah 65:12). They want to be secured in their future and their destiny but they prefer their own choice of who to trust rather than listening to God. Each of us has this deep longing and insecurity within and if we will satisfy these by giving in to our own preference and not God’s then we will suffer the consequence. God wants to give us life but if we reject His offer the consequence is death. “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).
Blessings,