Deuteronomy 11:26 –
“Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse!”
How many times do we get this option? Think about it, really think about it. One could argue this is a day to day choice. Sure we live by the grace of Jesus, but do we really live life to the full? We all make choices throughout life, some good and some bad. They all, in some way or another, impact our future. As a young adult I wandered far away from my following of God. I was always aware of Him, but I ignored his teachings and wishes for my life. Through grace what could have been a curse ended up through a long and winding road setting me on the right path.
From these writings to today we have the loving grace of Jesus. We tend to rest our transgressions on Jesus’ sacrificial death and assume our choices will not lead to a curse. Even in OT times, God was gracious and loving with his people. David fell and returned to the grace of God. Sure his sin had consequences that seem to be a curse, but we need to differentiate between a consequence and a curse. In many cases they are one in the same, but as Christians we tend to believe grace washes both away.
For example, a man murders a family goes to trial and is sentenced to death. Before his execution, he finds God and accepts Jesus as Lord. Does that mean the execution stops? Nope, the consequence still continues, but through grace he is forgiven and will spend an eternity with the Father. The curse would be never finding God and spending eternity in the lake of fire! Now here is an interesting question, if we crossed paths with that man and said nothing about God would we be held accountable?
Many times as Christians we think we “plant” seeds by being “examples” and being silent. I am as guilty of this as the next person, but we all must work on not being ashamed about our faith. God gets explained away so often that we must focus on turning that argument. If you study you will find many points to help your debate, like the evolution of a giraffe (difficult to explain other than to say, like Darwin, it all spontaneously happened). They key is not to fear, but to boldly commit to one’s faith and tell others. I am not says get on your “soap box” and preach in the square to any who will listen. In building relationships, make sure it’s known your faith and be ready to answer questions.
This gets a “tangent flag”, although it tied into God, I strayed from the original scripture about choices and curses. Although maybe not, since the discussion went down the path of our choice to profess our faith and the result if we were their “last chance”. This is a very deep concept and I am sure it will “evolve” in my brain over time. But the key for us … is keep reading so we can understand what a “good” choice is!!