Choosing Life: Embracing God's Goodness and Grace

Devotional

Day 1: God Sets Before Us the Choice of Life and Good

At the end of his life, Moses stands before the people of Israel and presents them with a clear choice: life and good, or death and curse. This is not a trick question or a complicated test, but a straightforward invitation to choose the path that leads to blessing and flourishing. Yet, as history shows, making the right choice is not always easy, because our understanding of what is truly good can be clouded by our desires and the world’s standards. God, in His love, calls us to choose life—not just for ourselves, but for our families and communities—by trusting in His definition of what is good and following His ways. [41:16]

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (ESV)
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Reflection: What is one decision you are facing today where you need to intentionally choose God’s way, even if it feels difficult or countercultural?

Day 2: God Defines What Is Truly Good

From the very beginning, humanity has struggled to discern what is truly good. Adam and Eve saw the fruit as “good” in their own eyes, even though God had said otherwise. Today, we are still tempted to define good by our own standards or by what the world says is right. But God, as our Creator, is the only one who truly knows what is good for us. When we trust His wisdom and follow His commands, we find blessing and life, even when it goes against what seems logical or popular in our culture. [42:42]

Genesis 2:16-17 (ESV)
“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’”

Reflection: Where in your life are you tempted to redefine “good” according to your own desires or the world’s advice, rather than trusting God’s definition?

Day 3: God’s Choice of Us Comes Before Our Choice for Him

Our relationship with God does not begin with our own decision or effort, but with God’s gracious choice of us. Before He calls us to live for Him, He declares, “You are mine.” This is the foundation of our faith: God’s initiative, God’s grace, and God’s claim on our lives. Even our ability to respond to Him is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Because we are chosen and loved by God, we are invited to respond by choosing to live for Him each day, not to earn His favor, but because we already belong to Him. [56:12]

John 15:16 (ESV)
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”

Reflection: How does knowing that God has chosen you first change the way you approach your daily walk with Him?

Day 4: Choosing God’s Goodness Impacts Our Relationships and Witness

Following Jesus and choosing to live according to God’s standards can sometimes lead to tension or even loss in our relationships. Jesus Himself warned that living for Him might cost us dearly, even among those closest to us. Yet, this call is not meant to be a burden, but a reminder that our ultimate loyalty is to the One who gave everything for us. When we choose God’s way, we not only experience His blessing, but we also become witnesses to others of His love and truth, even when it is costly. [57:40]

Luke 14:26-27 (ESV)
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”

Reflection: Is there a relationship or situation where following Jesus has been costly for you? How might God be calling you to trust Him and witness to His goodness in that area today?

Day 5: God’s Grace Covers Our Wrong Choices and Invites Us to New Life

Even when we make the wrong choices, God’s grace is greater. Through Jesus, our sins—whether in thought, word, or deed—are forgiven and removed as far as the east is from the west. We are invited to bring our failures, shame, and grief to the cross, trusting that God’s mercy is new every morning. Because we are forgiven and redeemed, we can rise each day to choose life and good, empowered by the Holy Spirit to live differently and share God’s love with others. [01:01:36]

Psalm 103:10-12 (ESV)
“He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”

Reflection: What is one area of regret or failure you need to bring to God today, trusting in His forgiveness and asking Him to help you choose life going forward?

Sermon Summary

Life is full of choices—some small, some that change the entire direction of our lives. From the seemingly simple decisions, like which college to attend or which sports team to root for, to the deeply difficult ones, such as letting go of a loved one, our lives are shaped by the paths we choose. Yet, at the heart of it all, God reminds us that the most important choice is set before us: life and good, or death and curse. Moses, at the end of his life, stands before the people and lays out this choice, urging them to choose life so that they and their descendants may live.

But the challenge is not just in making a choice—it’s in knowing what is truly good. Our world often confuses what is good with what is merely appealing or convenient. Like Adam and Eve in the garden, we are tempted to define good on our own terms, often with painful consequences. God, however, is clear: He alone defines what is good, and His commands are given not to restrict us, but to bless us. When we follow His ways, even when they run counter to the world’s wisdom, we find life and blessing.

This is especially true in the context of relationships and marriage. The world’s logic may seem sound—try things out before committing—but God’s wisdom reveals a deeper truth about commitment, trust, and the sanctity of marriage. When we enter into marriage with an “out” in our back pocket, we undermine the very foundation of the covenant God intends for us. Instead, God calls us to remove divorce as an option, to work through the hard times, and to trust that His way leads to deeper joy and lasting love.

Yet, the call to choose life is not a burden we bear alone. The good news is that God has already chosen us. Before we ever make a move toward Him, He claims us as His own. The story of the Ten Commandments, as understood in the Jewish tradition, begins not with a demand, but with a declaration: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt.” Grace comes first. Because we are His, we are then invited to live for Him, to choose life each day, not to earn His love, but as a response to it.

Choosing life means living differently, sometimes at great cost. It may strain relationships or set us apart from the world. But it is always rooted in God’s prior choice of us, and in the assurance that, even when we fail, His forgiveness and grace remain. Each day, we are invited to bring our failures, our shame, and our grief to the cross, and to receive new life in Christ. God’s choice is you—so go, redeemed, and choose life and good.

---

Key Takeaways

1. God’s Definition of Good Surpasses Our Own Understanding The world often presents what seems good or logical, but God’s definition of good is rooted in His wisdom and love for us. When we rely on our own judgment, we risk repeating the mistakes of Adam and Eve, choosing what looks good rather than what truly brings life. Trusting God’s commands, even when they challenge cultural norms, leads us to deeper blessing and fulfillment. [42:42]
2. Commitment in Relationships Reflects God’s Covenant with Us Entering marriage with an “out” undermines the covenant God intends. True commitment means removing divorce as an option and working through difficulties, mirroring God’s unwavering faithfulness to us. When we choose to persevere, we experience the richness and growth that come from living into God’s good design for relationships. [47:57]
3. God’s Choice Precedes Our Own—Grace Comes First Our ability to choose God is only possible because He has already chosen us. Faith is not initiated by our decision, but by God’s action through His Word and Spirit. This foundational truth frees us from striving to earn God’s favor and invites us to respond in gratitude and obedience. [49:32]
4. The Ten Commandments Begin with Grace, Not Law The Jewish tradition numbers the Ten Commandments beginning with God’s declaration of deliverance: “I am the Lord your God.” This order reminds us that obedience flows from identity—we are first claimed by God, then called to live for Him. Our choices are a response to being chosen, not a prerequisite for acceptance. [54:28]
5. Choosing Life Is a Daily Response to God’s Love The call to “choose life” is not a one-time decision, but a daily invitation to live in the reality of God’s grace. Even when we fail, God’s forgiveness is available, and His Spirit empowers us to keep choosing life and good. Our witness to the world is strengthened when we live out this choice, showing that God’s way truly leads to life. [57:40]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:10] - Announcements and Giving
[03:45] - Prayer Walk and Young Adults Gathering
[05:30] - Opening Prayer
[07:00] - Choices in Life: College and Family Stories
[13:00] - Life-Changing Decisions and God’s Guidance
[18:00] - Moses’ Final Test: Life or Death
[21:00] - The Struggle to Know What Is Good
[24:00] - Worldly Wisdom vs. God’s Wisdom in Relationships
[28:00] - The Foundation of Marriage and Commitment
[32:00] - God’s Definition of Good
[35:00] - The Role of Choice in Faith
[38:00] - The Ten Commandments: Numbering and Meaning
[42:00] - Grace First: God’s Choice of Us
[45:00] - Living Differently: The Daily Call to Choose Life
[50:00] - Confession, Forgiveness, and Prayer

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (ESV) — > "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."

Genesis 3:6 (ESV) — > "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate."

Exodus 20:1-2 (ESV) — > "And God spoke all these words, saying, 'I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.'"

Observation Questions

In Deuteronomy 30, what two options does Moses set before the people, and what does he urge them to choose?
According to Genesis 3:6, what was the reasoning Adam and Eve used to make their choice in the garden?
In the sermon, what example does the pastor use to illustrate how the world’s definition of “good” can differ from God’s?
How does the introduction to the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:1-2 set the stage for the commands that follow?

Interpretation Questions

Why do you think Moses frames the choice between life and death as something so clear, yet the people still struggled to choose life?
What are some ways people today, like Adam and Eve, are tempted to define “good” for themselves instead of trusting God’s definition?
The pastor says that God’s commands are given not to restrict us, but to bless us. How does this perspective change the way we view God’s instructions, especially in areas where they go against cultural norms?
The sermon points out that the Ten Commandments begin with God’s declaration of deliverance, not a demand for obedience. What difference does it make to know that grace comes before law in our relationship with God?

Application Questions

Think about a recent decision you made—big or small. Did you consider what God says is “good,” or did you rely on your own judgment or what seemed logical to the world? What was the outcome?
The pastor shared about couples entering marriage with an “out” in their back pocket. In your own relationships (marriage, friendship, family), are there ways you hold back full commitment? What would it look like to remove the “out” and trust God’s design for commitment?
The sermon says God’s choice of us comes before our choice for Him. How does knowing you are already chosen and loved by God affect your motivation to obey Him? Does it change how you approach your daily choices?
Are there areas in your life where you feel God’s commands are restrictive or outdated? How might you reframe those areas in light of God’s desire to bless you, not limit you?
The pastor mentioned that choosing life and good can sometimes strain relationships or set us apart from the world. Have you ever experienced this? How did you respond, and what did you learn from it?
When you fail or make a wrong choice, do you tend to hide it, justify it, or bring it to God? What would it look like for you to bring your failures, shame, or grief to the cross and receive new life in Christ this week?
The call to “choose life” is a daily invitation. What is one specific way you can choose life and good in your actions, words, or relationships this week?

Sermon Clips

These are life-changing things. Huge, huge choices. And really, none of these were made lightly. But God's blessed things in just ways beyond what we could imagine. But at the same time, it doesn't mean that all those choices are easy. There's hard, hard choices. You know, just over a year ago, having to decide with my brother and my dad that we're not going to do life-saving things anymore. It's time for dad to go home. That was a very hard decision. And this life is filled with very hard decisions. Choices. [00:39:36] (45 seconds) #CourageInHardDecisions

See, God wants good things for them, so He tells you what is good, but we are going with the world's standards of what we think is good. That's why when I do weddings, here's the deal. When you live together, I'm convinced that this is what it is. When they live together before they're married, they're trying it out. They haven't out the whole time. If this doesn't work out, I can get out of it, right? And you live in this home together, and then they finally decide, this is good, we're going to do it. They're going to come here. They get married, and then they go on their honeymoon, and then they return home, back into the same house and the same bed, and all of a sudden they say, it feels just the same as it was before. Only difference is, we have rings now, and she may have changed her last name. And in their minds, they were living together in this house before, with and out, and so for them, they still have it, and like divorce is in the back pocket. [00:45:58] (56 seconds) #CommitmentOverConvenience

See, if you want to pay attention to where do I find good, I find it from the Creator. He's the one who defines what is good and bad, so I go to Him to learn what is good. Apart from that, I do what the people of Israel did, and I make the wrong choices. [00:49:35] (19 seconds) #GodChoosesUsFirst

And with that, we have this thing where this word that Moses puts into our text makes us uncomfortable. I have given you a choice. Therefore, choose. We struggle with that word, choose, right? Don't we? If you grew up in this church body, it always feels, oh, he's a choice. You. We're not supposed to have choice. That's not it, right? And that's because many Christians do this thing where the beginning of my faith journey is me choosing Jesus. Right? Once I have chosen Jesus, once I've made the acceptance statement, then I'm a Christian, and God says I'm His child, and all that kind of thing. But what we know from God's Word is it's not about our choice for God. It's God's choice of us. Right? Because even in the letters to the Corinthians, God tells us through the Apostle Paul that no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. That means this. It's God who invests in you. Through the power of God's Word, He invests faith in you. And He chooses you. [00:50:12] (66 seconds) #LiveOutGrace

``God says, I have chosen you through my Son, Jesus Christ, who came and lived and suffered and died and rose for you. Who came and lived always choosing the good thing because you don't. He suffered and died because that's what you deserve and He rose from the grave. And now by the power of God's Word and in baptism and in communion, I invest faith in you. The Holy Spirit works on you so that you can have faith. So if you are ever able to say, I choose you, Jesus, it's because God has already chosen you. It's His choice first. Right? [00:51:18] (35 seconds) #JesusSetsUsFree

But I think theirs is better. Because theirs is going to lay something out for you that when Moses is telling you you have a choice, he wants to make something very clear to you. It's out of the fact that you are already claimed by God that you then have a choice on how to live. See, here's how Jewish people would number it. They take what we know as the introduction or the preface to the Ten Commandments and make it the first word. They begin with this. The first of the ten words. God says, I am the Eternal One, your God. There's a little hyphen there because Jewish people don't say the word Yahweh. They feel like they're unworthy as people to say that name. And so, I am the Eternal One, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. So what is happening right here before He gives us the way we are to live our lives, He tells us, first, I want you to know I've chosen you. You are mine. That's grace. It begins with the Gospel. It remains with God saying, you are mine. Now, live it out. [00:54:28] (73 seconds) #ChooseLifeBecauseGodDid

And this points us directly to Jesus because Jesus is the Eternal One, the Lord our God, who brought us out of slavery to sin. God, in His Son Jesus, has chosen you. Jesus is the Lord. Jesus is theour because of all things, He has chosen you. He has chosen me. you. You are His. That is completely grace. I love you, and you are mine. I choose you, God says. You are a child of God. And then He says, now I want you to choose to live for me. [00:55:54] (39 seconds) #LiveDifferentlyBecauseOfGrace

And now He is saying to you each and every day, I want you today as child of God, because of what Jesus has done for you, because of God's choice of claiming you as His, to choose to live for me today. To choose to live for good and life the way that I laid out for you, God says, and not the death and curse that living the way the world says will do to you. [00:57:40] (26 seconds) #CommunityInChoice

And not just that, it will affect your ability to witness. I was spending some time with this verse earlier this week, and where it says, therefore choose life, this really struck me. That looks like if you're going to be translating, if you go back to the Hebrew, it looks like that's an imperative verb. An imperative verb is a command. Therefore choose life. But it's not. It's actually an indicative verb, which just states a fact of the way things are. And so I feel like a really good way to translate that would be, you will choose life. Because God has chosen you. How could you choose anything else except for who God is? You'll choose life. [00:58:05] (47 seconds)

Today, choose life and good. Because God has done everything to save you. You are His. He wants you to respond by now choosing life. By choosing the good that He has for you. By going forward and sharing that good news, because there are people out in the world who desperately need to hear that God has chosen to save you. To save you from all this. Choose life. [00:58:53] (32 seconds)

God is calling us to live differently than this world. Not so that He will save us, but because we are His. So let's choose life and good. Amen? Amen. [00:59:25] (16 seconds)

Ask a question about this sermon

Chatbot

What does it mean to choose life according to biblical principles?

How do God's commandments reveal His grace and sovereignty?

Why is God's prior choice essential in our faith journey?