Choose Life
I was a teenager in the 1980s and loved it! Some say it’s the greatest of decades, which I have to agree with! It was the era of shoulder pads, big hair and the Rubik’s cube.
As a mulleted teen, I queued up at our local cinema to watch these blockbusters: Chariots of Fire, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Back to the Future and Beverly Hills Cop.
Politically, there was a lot of anxiety around, as we were in fear of nuclear war between Ronald Reagan’s USA and Mikhail Gorbachev’s Soviet Union.
Everywhere I went my ‘Walkman’ played Duran Duran, Bananarama and others, on a mix tape.
Another popular band was Wham! The dynamic pop duo of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They had their first number one single with the catchy ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’.
They appeared on Top of the Pops performing the hit and wore white tee-shirts with a bold black slogan saying, ‘CHOOSE LIFE’.
I’m not sure if the band knew they were wearing a quote from the Bible? It can be found in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, which is a long speech given my Moses to Israel before he died. He said this…
“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.”
This summary statement came after Moses had laid out a list of blessings and curses. If the Israelites were obedient to God they would be blessed, but if not, they would be under a curse.
Being obedient and living God’s way was to ‘choose life’, which the aging Moses encouraged them to do.
Thousands of years later I believe we are faced with the same question! Are we going to ‘choose life’ or not? Put another way, it means are we going to live life according to God’s ways?
The Bible says that God created this wonderful world including us. He is the ‘intelligent designer’ behind it all. Therefore, it seems to make perfect sense to live as the maker instructed.
Let me encourage you ‘CHOOSE LIFE’.
God bless you :)
Gary Bastin - Hope Community Church leader