Choose Life

"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (Romans 8:6) If you were given the choice between life and death, which would you choose? The answer seems obvious. But, in reality, it's not. You see, choosing death doesn't necessarily mean jumping from the nearest cliff. It's much more subtle than that. The Bible says death is being carnally minded, being entangled in this present worldly realm. The Bible also tells us what life is. "My son, attend to my words," says Proverbs 4:20-22, "...for they are life!" To be worldly-minded is death. To be Word-minded is life. In Luke 10, there's a story that illustrates this principle extremely well. It's the story of Mary and Martha. You probably remember it. Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet listening to Him teach while Martha was bustling around in the kitchen cooking dinner for everyone. Finally Martha couldn't stand it anymore. She came to Jesus and said, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all the work myself? Tell her to help me!" Jesus answered, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:41-42). Mary had set everything else aside, so she could hear the Word. But Martha had let the seemingly important business of living take priority over the Word. She'd chosen death, not life. You see how easy it is to slip into that? You might say, "If I didn't spend all my time taking care of the business of living, my life would fall apart!" Oh, really? Martha probably thought that too. She probably thought if she didn't cook dinner for all those folks, they'd go hungry. But they wouldn't have. Jesus had miraculously fed multitudes before and He could have done it again in Martha's home. She could have plopped herself down at Jesus' feet, and they could have had a banquet at God's expense! Don't make the mistake that Martha did. Don't get so entangled in the business of living that you choose death by default. Decide to put the Word first place. Choose life! Scripture Study: Romans 8:5-13

Thanks for the good news from the Word!!! As one who always had to do housework while I was growing up, I really sympathized with Martha for years. In my mind, Mary was getting out of helping. I couldn't see that her priority was spending time with the Father. I do also agree that housework is in essence "choosing death." Truly, the more time I spend with our Lord in the Word, the more blessed my life is! Thanks again for the reminder! Hugs, Becky

My favorite topic Choose Life! I like the story of Martha and Mary because I always have liked to choose to sit at Jesus' feet rather than take care of the kitchen! And when Jesus told Martha Mary choose the better of the two I was released from a lot of "homey" kind of stuff that I just didn't like to do. It was very freeing for me. I am not a baker, cooker, sewer, never have been, but I love being in the Word, praying. Thank you Bro. Randall for sharing with us. Had the awesome opportunity of saving a baby within the last few weeks from partial birth abortion at our pregnancy center. The Mom heard "truth" for the first time and chose adoption. Praising God.