Choose
30 Do not let Hezekiah persuade you to trust in the LORD when he says, ‘The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.’
31 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then every one of you will eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, 32 until I come and take you to a land like your own, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life and not death!
“Do not listen to Hezekiah, for he is misleading you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ 33 Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 34 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? 35 Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”
36 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.”
37 Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and Joah son of Asaph the recorder went to Hezekiah, with their clothes torn, and told him what the field commander had said.
(2 Kings 18.30-37)
The words of the commander of the Assyrian army offered the people of Jerusalem a vision for the future: peace and a lifting of the siege. He also offered the good things of life: that “every one of you will eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern” (verse 31) until the king of Assyria came and took them “to a land like your own, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey” (verse 32). Finally he called on them to make a choice: “Choose life and not death!” (verse 31)
Which would you choose? The obvious choice is “life” and usually that is the right choice. We choose life when we are sick and go to a doctor for treatment. We choose life when we are careful about our safety and avoid dangerous parts of a city. These are good choices.
But sometimes “life” is not the right choice – when it means “life” without God. That was the choice that the inhabitants of Jerusalem faced: to give in to their fears and surrender to a king who worshiped other gods, or to trust in God for their future.
Most of us will never have to face such an extreme choice. We will never be in city surrounded by an enemy determined on conquest. Instead, we will face more subtle challenges about the way that we live: how to use our money, how to spend our time, what books to read, and what movies to watch. Most of all, we choose whether to accept Christ as our Lord and Savior and give our life to Him.
Jesus said “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:25) Sometimes choosing life (or the good things in life) is the wrong choice: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).
Prayer:
• What choices have you made in your life? Are they choices that lead to God or only to life as this world knows it?
Pray that God will give you wisdom and courage to make the choices that lead to Him.