I just finished reading a book set in the McCarthy era 1950’s called The Briar Club. It was a wonderful and engaging book about a group of women who occupy a boarding house together. One of the characters was revealed to be a Russian spy trying to defect to America. After she is discovered, she described her training in a Russian camp that was set up to look like an American town. The Russians had created a fake grocery store filled with row after row of fake products so that spies could practice being in a store with an overwhelming amount of choices. Russian markets had no choices, so spies were often caught out when they reacted to American stores. These spies-in-training displayed a “tell” of choice paralysis if they weren’t properly trained.

We suffer from choice paralysis as well, don’t we? We spend a great deal of time going through our many streaming options with thousands of shows trying to decide which to watch. Then we spend time trying to remember which channel carries that program we were watching. We are overwhelmed with online shopping choices. Have you ever spent an hour or two going down that rabbit hole, trying to choose which denim skirt you want to buy? Even American restaurants can put us into a choice paralysis with menu overload.

In our passage today, Moses called the nation of Israel to step away from the multitude of choices in front of them and choose God and God alone. He made the case that in choosing God only, their lives would be fruitful and protected. Choosing God means choosing life. He reminded them of their covenant relationship with God and told them that understanding, believing, and obeying the Law are not impossible tasks. The Law, the Lord, and life itself are bound together.

Deuteronomy 30 (Common English Bible)

¹⁵ Look here! Today I’ve set before you life and what’s good versus death and what’s wrong. ¹⁶ If you obey the Lord your God’s commandments that I’m commanding you right now by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments, his regulations, and his case laws, then you will live and thrive, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and so are misled, worshipping other gods and serving them, ¹⁸ I’m telling you right now that you will definitely die. You will not prolong your life on the fertile land that you are crossing the Jordan River to enter and possess.

¹⁹ I call heaven and earth as my witnesses against you right now: I have set life and death, blessing and curse before you. Now choose life—so that you and your descendants will live— ²⁰ by loving the Lord your God, by obeying his voice, and by clinging to him. That’s how you will survive and live long on the fertile land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors: to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

“Now choose life.” If you ask me, the question is no less urgent for us today than it was on that day. Choosing to love or to hate, to give or to hoard, to become involved when help is needed or to withdraw. The choice is ours.

Choosing to reach out and mend a torn marriage, or to let it continue to unravel at the seams. The choice is ours.

Choosing to apologize for hurtful words we wish we had never said, or to add another brick to the wall of silence that exists between us and that person. The choice is ours.

Choosing to devote one’s life to something that will mean a difference in this world, or to settle into the self-centeredness of adding wealth and comfort own for our own pleasure. The choice is ours.

The choice indeed is ours. The day is today. The time is now. What will you choose?

Heaven and Earth Witness