Life and Death

There are dozens of passages in the book of Proverbs that compare and contrast ‘life or death.’ This ‘life or death’ can either be literal regarding the length of life or it can be symbolic of the quality of life. There are numerous illustrations in life of people who are ‘alive’ but smell in one or more areas of life like ‘death.’

The passages in Proverbs regarding ‘life or death’ teach that every year, every month, every day and even every hour we each make multiple choices that either lead to life or lead to death. Those choices either carry with them the fragrance of life or the fragrance of death. Jesus is continually at work to lead us, teach us and motivate us to make choices for ‘life’ but ultimately WE make the choices. He won’t make the choices for us. We choose ‘life or death.’

Here are a couple of the Proverbs that Solomon wrote down to teach future generations:

The way of the godly leads to life; that path does not lead to death. (Proverbs 12:28 NLT)

There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. (Proverbs 14:12 NLT)

The choices that you and I make with our thoughts – lean towards ‘life or death.’ The choices we make with our words, with our actions, with our attitudes, with our finances, with our habits and with our time all either lean towards ‘life or death.’

“Lord, teach us to choose life and not death. When we come to one of those moments, make us very conscience of our options and in that split second, help us to choose wisely. Amen.”