Choose now and be ready for what is to come
“I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse…”
By Steve Hall
We read of Moses speaking to the Hebrew people who had only recently escaped slavery. They have been given the Commandments at Mt Sinai; now they must make a choice.
Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Romans 5:12, 15, 17-19, 20-21
Luke 12:35-38
St Paul’s opening words in this passage presume a particular Jewish understanding of death as a consequence of sin. “Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death…” Although earlier Scripture accounts may suggest the same connection between sin and death, one passage in Deuteronomy states it most clearly. We read of Moses speaking to the Hebrew people who had only recently escaped slavery. They have been given the Commandments at Mt Sinai; now they must make a choice.
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and clinging to him; for that means life to you and length of days, that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)
Death is not natural, even if the events we regularly witness would suggest otherwise. The old saying about death and taxes is not true. Death is not inevitable; it is not certain. True, physical things may come to a physical end. The mountains may fall and the hills turn to dust, but … Death, the only Death that matters, is a choice. “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse…” Then the Israelites are admonished: “Therefore choose life!”
Although the words are different, the message of Jesus is the same: I set before you a choice. It is the same choice given to the Israelites in the days of Moses. Moreover, it is a choice which crucifixion and Resurrection make physically evident. One’s physical death will most certainly come, but that does not necessarily carry with it the end of life. It is best to choose now and be ready for what is to come. “I have set before you life and death… choose life!”
And remember.
“It is the Spirit that gives life . . . the words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.” (John 6:63)