We have all been given a choice as to how we live our lives. God has given us the free will to choose life (following His ways) or death (following Satan’s ways). In Deuteronomy 30:19-20 it says, “…I have set before you life and death…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…” When we follow the ways of this world, when we give in to the desires of our flesh, we are choosing death. We are choosing the path of disobedience and therefore following the prince of the power of the air, Satan (Ephesians 2:2). Although we have all at one point been dead in our transgressions and sins (Ephesians 2:1), because of God’s overwhelming love for us, we are made alive through Christ (Ephesians 2:5).
When we follow the ways of this world, we are walking in sin. But our God is a God who is rich in mercy (Ephesians 2:4) and by His grace He has extended to us a new life, free of sin. We receive this new life when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God…” This is a gift freely given by our gracious Father. There is nothing that we can do to earn it and all we need to do is receive it through Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” When we choose life, we are choosing to follow God’s ways and allowing Him to carry out His will for our lives. When we choose life, we become new creations in Christ (II Corinthians 5:17). We have all sinned and we all fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). But through His grace, God cancels our sins and we become sinless in spirit because we have been reborn and renewed (II Corinthians 5:19).
The world has been made to look like it can offer us all we will ever need. But this is nothing more than an elaborate lie to blind the mind of unbelievers (II Corinthians 4:4). Don’t be deceived by the lie; don’t fall into the death trap. We have been made alive through Christ, and the death that comes from following the ways of this world has been overcome through Him. Choose life and live a fully blessed and abundant life through Jesus.
Take Action – Have you chosen life? Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior? If not, there is no time like the present. “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Put your faith in God alone today. Allow Jesus to give you a life of true peace, joy, and prosperity.
If you would like to accept Jesus now, you can use your own words or you can repeat the following prayer:
Dear God, I know that my sin has separated me from you. Thank you that Jesus Christ died in my place. I ask Jesus to forgive my sin and to come into my life. Please begin to direct my life. Thank you for giving me eternal life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you repeated this prayer or said your own, congratulations! I would like to officially welcome you into God’s family.
Meditate on Scripture –
Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV) – I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Romans 8:6 (NIV) – The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
Further Study – Read Romans 5:12-21 – In these verses it is explained that death came through Adam’s sin. Though death reigned through Adam’s sin, God’s provision of grace gave us life through Jesus. We have all been made righteous through Jesus’ obedience.