{"id":277,"date":"2010-03-17T22:33:30","date_gmt":"2010-03-17T22:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/?p=277"},"modified":"2010-03-17T22:33:30","modified_gmt":"2010-03-17T22:33:30","slug":"choose-your-choices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/?p=277","title":{"rendered":"Choose Your Choices"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><font size=\"3\"><font face=\"Georgia\"><em><\/em><\/font><\/font>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><font size=\"3\"><font face=\"Georgia\"><em>\u201cI set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.\u201d <\/em>\u2013 Deuteronomy 30:15<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"3\"><font face=\"Georgia\"><em>\u201cChoose life.\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Deuteronomy 30:19<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"3\"><font face=\"Georgia\"><em>\u201cListen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life.\u201d<\/em> &#8211; Deuteronomy 30:20<br \/><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">&nbsp;<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">I was faced with a horrible choice yesterday.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">I was leaving an intense day of work and headed home to pick up my son for soccer practice.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">I found myself tired. And I found myself wanting a Dr. Pepper. <\/font><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tootntotum.com\/\"><font size=\"2\">Toot n\u2019 Totom<\/font><\/a><font size=\"2\"> was up there on the right. As I was driving by, I was torn between my desire for a Dr. Pepper and my desire to not expend the energy it would take to stop, get out of my car, and go in and buy a Dr. Pepper.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">As I was deliberating what to do, a brutal moment of self-awareness smacked me across the face. I was choosing between <em>being lazy<\/em> or <em>being unhealthy<\/em>.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">I started laughing. (Partly because of what I\u2019m about to tell you, but partly because I\u2019m the freak that for some reason thinks up stuff like what I\u2019m about to tell you!)<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">The first quote above popped into my head\u2026you know, the one where God says that he puts before us the choice between life and death. Yet here, on my drive home, I had put before myself the choice between death and death.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">I have so many friends that live here. They are choosing not between life and death (that God consistently puts before them), but between death and death (that they consistently put before themselves).<\/font><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><font size=\"2\">Should I get even or be bitter? <\/font>\n<li><font size=\"2\">Should I lie or should I hide? <\/font>\n<li><font size=\"2\">Should I be violent verbally or physically? <\/font>\n<li><font size=\"2\">Should I give in or give up? <\/font>\n<li><font size=\"2\">Should I get drunk or high? (ever thought of staying engaged with reality?) <\/font>\n<li><font size=\"2\">Should I buy clothes I don\u2019t need or electronics I don\u2019t need? (I know lots of hungry people.) <\/font>\n<li><font size=\"2\">Should I divorce out of a loveless marriage or stay in a loveless marriage out of duty? (um\u2026how about addressing the loveless thing\u2026you know, by loving) <\/font>\n<li><font size=\"2\">Should I have meaningless sex or sex I convince myself is meaningful so I can have sex? (If sex is your end game, you\u2019ll do one or the other, inside or outside of marriage) <\/font>\n<li><font size=\"2\">Should I be rebellious or religious? (Two self-defeating approaches to shame \u2013 one denies it, the other manages it) <\/font>\n<li><font size=\"2\">Should I vote Republican or Democrat? (I\u2019m only <em>kinda<\/em> kidding here) <\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><font size=\"2\">The decision that offers two bad choices never comes from God. We humans provide those for ourselves.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">God gives us the choice the between death and life. There are exceptions, but most of the time, most people know the difference. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">I mean, c\u2019mon, take a look at the Ten Commandments. They don\u2019t take spiritual super-powers to understand or agree with. Don\u2019t steal. Don\u2019t murder. Don\u2019t sleep with someone else\u2019s spouse. Don\u2019t overwork yourself or those who are under your authority. Tell the truth. Honor your parents. Don\u2019t revolve your life around worthless things. Love God. Represent God\u2019s love well.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">I think it was <\/font><a href=\"http:\/\/francischansblog.blogspot.com\/\"><font size=\"2\">Francis Chan<\/font><\/a><font size=\"2\"> who pointed out to me that the Ten Commandments, contrary to popular belief, are not some super-high idealistic standards that are hard for human beings to measure up to. On the contrary, a person has to exert quite a bit of energy just to get underneath these standards. They are more a basic list of the minimum standards of being a decent human. Jerry Springer and Steve Wilkos are making a killing on TV showcasing the people who break these commands, presenting them almost as freak circus acts that don\u2019t have a clue. And based on what? These (almost) universally accepted commandments.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">Some recent shows: <\/font><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><font size=\"2\">\u201cDNA: It\u2019s your baby!\u201d \u2013 7th commandment <\/font>\n<li><font size=\"2\">\u201cI know you murdered my son.\u201d \u2013 6th commandment <\/font>\n<li><font size=\"2\">\u201cMy mom made me lie.\u201d \u2013 9th commandment <\/font>\n<li><font size=\"2\">\u201cSteve, Lock up my daughter.\u201d \u2013 5th commandment <\/font>\n<li><font size=\"2\">\u201cSex and Drugs at 13\u201d \u2013 2nd commandment <\/font>\n<li><font size=\"2\">\u201cMy Teen Would Kill for the Klan\u201d \u2013 3rd &amp; 6th commandment<\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><font size=\"2\">I know these are dramatic examples, that seem so crystal clear, but that is only because they are on TV and being exposed through the simple \u201clife\u201d vs. \u201cdeath\u201d choices that they are. If Steve or Dr. Phil got a hold of you and your self-defeating choices, they would seem drastically crystal clear, too.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">I guess here is my point: Before we make a choice, we choose what it is we will choose <em>between<\/em>.&nbsp; <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">God could just as truthfully have said, \u201cHere, I set before the the choice between choosing between death and death, or choosing between death and life.\u201d<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">So many of us have chosen death from the start by being fooled into thinking our choices are between two death-producing ones.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\"><u>LET US ADVANCE<\/u> from choosing between two different flavors of death, to the choice of Deuteronomy 30:15 \u2013 between life (-giving things) and death (-producing things).<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">&nbsp;<u>AND THEN<\/u>, when we stand at that much healthier crossroads, follow the advice of Deuteronomy 30:19 &#8211; choose life!<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">For those who make it that far, those few who choose life consistently and faithfully, there becomes available to them another set of choices. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">The choice between life and life. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"2\">If and when you get there, my friends\u2026where you must choose between a life-giving thing and a more life-giving thing, struggling to discern which is which\u2026well, wow. Praise God. You will then have entered into the most glorious adventure of your life. And to make that choice, you will then need the instruction of Deuteronomy 30:20 \u2013 listen to His voice.<\/font><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><font size=\"3\"><em>\u201cThe man who accepts that there are never only bad choices will always find a good one. The man who always chooses the good one will always find himself with more than one good one from which to choose. And the man who learns to hear from his heart which good choice is best for him, and in faith obeys, finds himself living in the midst of miracles. He is the man with the most abundant life, for he has found life in God.\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Yours Truly <\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; \u201cI set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.\u201d \u2013 Deuteronomy 30:15 \u201cChoose life.\u201d \u2013 Deuteronomy 30:19 \u201cListen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life.\u201d &#8211; Deuteronomy 30:20 &nbsp; I was faced with a horrible choice yesterday. I was leaving an intense day of work [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-best-life"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pO6nf-4t","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brianmashburn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}