Choose Life Not Death

Once, when my parents, siblings, and I were on vacation, a car passed us when it was unsafe to do so. We were on a two-lane highway that was strewn with multiple hills and valleys. When he passed us, he could not see if an oncoming car was just behind the next hill.

The car had obviously stopped ahead of us somewhere after the first pass-by. The second pass-by was also done on a double yellow line. That driver had no way of knowing if an oncoming car was on the other side of the hill. I remember my Mom saying the first time, “That’s dangerous!!!”

As that car passed us a second time, my eyes connected with a boy my age. He peered at me through his window. He smiled and waved. He was enjoying passing so many others. We watched in horror as an on-coming car nearly hit him head-on.

The driver of that car ignored the speed limit signs, ignored the double yellow line, and ignored the obvious danger of overtaking cars on curves and hills.

A little while later, we came to the scene of a horrific multi-car crash. Two semi-trucks were overturned in the fields besides the road, two cars were severely damaged and that car with the boy my age in it was a mangled mess. No one in that mangled wreckage could have survived.

I was perhaps five years old, but never forgot that day. How I wish the father of that family had followed the rules of the road. His disdain for rules destroyed him, his family members, and other motorists.

“The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to turn one away from the snares of death.” [1] God gives us rules and promptings to save us from harm. He loves us and wants what is best for us. “I have set life and death before you, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” [2]

“Thank You Heavenly Father for prompting us to make good decisions via Your Holy Spirit and via Your Word. Please continue to help us choose life not death.”

[1] Proverbs 14:27
[2] Deuteronomy 30:19