Choose the Good Life
Ezekiel 18:23 “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?”
Ezekiel 18:23 NIV
Ezekiel 18:32 “For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!”
Ezekiel 18:32 NIV
“I don’t want you to die, says the Sovereign Lord. Turn back and live!”
Ezekiel 18:32 NLT
God is less interested in your just demise and more interested in your full and meaningful life. You’ve had it your way; how about trying his better way?
There is a popular misconception about God strongly reinforced through popular culture across the ages of God sitting on clouds and throwing lightning bolts at rebellious sinners. He is portrayed as waiting for one of us to get out of line so that he can zap us. If that were true, our funerals would be over and our graves marked.
Remember this about warnings of judgment in the Bible: They are warnings. Judgment does not have to be the final word. We can choose life. We can choose the ways of life. We can live full and meaningful lives and help others do the same. This is what God wants. Take a look at what Jesus said in John 10:10:
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
John 10:10 NIV
When God told the people of Ezekiel’s day to repent and live, he invited them into the positive alternative to judgment. He invited them to step away from the edge of death and destruction and into life worth living. His invitation is still open.
Choose life.
I will join Team Life.
Our Father, I joyfully receive your invitation to a full and meaningful life. I step into the light. I want to live, really live. Amen.
