Choose Life

Two roads, one honest choice. Jeremiah 21 doesn’t whisper; it draws a clear line between the way of life and the way of death, then asks whether we’ll trust comfort or obey God’s call. We read the passage, unpack the hard mercy behind divine discipline, and connect ancient warnings to the everyday moments where we ignore good counsel and only learn after it hurts.

Along the way, we press into the tension many of us feel; while God’s patience seems endless, his severity can arrive like fire when we keep crossing that same line.

We explore the “morning justice” God expects from leaders, parents, and anyone with influence, and how neglecting the vulnerable sets a blaze we cannot quench. We challenge the myths of safety from position, resources, and reputation.  And ask what faithfulness looks like when God sets his face to correct. Humility isn’t weakness here; it’s wisdom that takes bitter medicine so healing can begin.

If you’ve been putting off a step you know you need to take, this conversation offers clarity and courage. Open the Bible with us, listen for the Spirit, and weigh the choices on your path.

If you’ve fallen, repent and start again.  Today can be the day that you turn toward life.

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What choice are you making this week?

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Jeremiah 21:8-14 - King James Version
8 And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death.

9 He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey.

10 For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the Lord: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.

11 And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the Lord;

12 O house of David, thus saith the Lord; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.

13 Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the Lord; which say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?

14 But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the Lord: and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it.

2 Peter 3:9 - King James Version
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Romans 11:22 - King James Version
22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Purpose
• 0:34 Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 21:8–14
• 1:59 Prayer For Understanding
• 2:39 Hard Lessons And Humility
• 4:52 The Way Of Life Or Death
• 6:43 God Sets His Face To Correct
• 8:27 Justice Perverted At The Gates
• 10:07 False Security And Coming Fire
• 11:09 God’s Patience And Severity
• 12:07 Exhortation To Repent And Choose Life
• 12:36 Closing And The Lord’s Prayer

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:07

Welcome to the Christ Quarter. Thank you for being here with me to take 15 minutes of this day to enjoy the presence of Christ and the words of Christ. Today we will read a section of Scripture and discuss what it means and how it applies to our lives. It is my hope that God will speak to you through these words and bring you closer to Him. I am blessed to have this opportunity to speak with you, and I thank you so much for being with me here today. Today's scripture selection is Jeremiah chapter twenty one, verses eight through fourteen. The King James Version reads as follows. And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence. But he that goeth out and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey. For I have set my face against this city for evil and not for good, saith the Lord. It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. And touching the house of the king of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the Lord. O house of David, thus saith the Lord, execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the Lord, which say, Who shall come down against us, or who shall enter into our habitations? But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the Lord, and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for this day, we thank you for the freedom and the ability to discuss your word and enjoy your presence. Help us to understand your word and your will for our daily lives more fully. We ask that you bless this discussion of your word, that it will speak to someone who needs to hear from you. We ask that you will use these words to bring someone closer to you, and that it will touch their hearts to love others through action in your name. That each of us will do something to show love to their neighbor, in action as well as in word. That each of us will do our best to represent you to the world. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. The verses for today are humbling. How many of us have found ourselves in bad, negative, painful situations, and when looking back at how we ended up there, had no one to blame but ourselves. Maybe our friends tried to correct us along the way, but we were determined to do it our way. And doing it our way blew up in our face. It is a humbling experience, but if we are truly humbled and want to not end up there again, we will learn from our bad decisions and do our best not to repeat them. We should also remember, in hindsight, who gave us good advice and consider listening to them in the future. As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit advising us every day, if we listen. The more we listen, the more he speaks. The people we're discussing today did not have the Holy Spirit as we do today, but they did have Jeremiah, one of God's prophets, and other prophets before him. Unfortunately for them, they had ignored all the wisdom and advice that did not match their desires and wishes, and happily ran full force into a godly spanking. Let's get right to it. The first section of today's text, verses eight and nine, reads, And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence. But he that goeth out and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey. In these verses God is telling the people that they have a choice to live or to die, to stay in Jerusalem where they think they are safe, but they are not, and die, or to surrender to the Chaldeans, who think that they will kill them, but they will not. The Judeans had ignored God's prophets and willfully disobey God's laws, thinking that they had God's favor no matter what. They had begun to view God not as a father to be respected and revered, but as more of an ATM and a good luck jar. God the Father sometimes gives us a lot of rope, but if we do not listen to Him and change our behavior, the rope can quickly become a rod and we are punished. God is saying, in effect, if the Judeans stay in their room, in their city, they will die from the sword, from hunger, and from disease. But if they obey and leave their city, while they will be severely punished, they will not die. Doesn't this sound just like a child that refuses to leave his room or refuses to take his medicine? As an adult, it's a little funny to watch a child refuse to swallow their cold medicine because it tastes so bad. Not realizing that if they swallow the medicine and then drink something, the taste will go away. They're only prolonging their own situation by being willful. Of course, they don't understand this and are doing what seems best to them, but to their own discomfort. I wonder if God looks at us like this. Is God smiling at us when he has told us to stop doing one thing or to start doing another thing, and we refuse because we don't like how it feels? God is trying to move us out of a bad or a less than situation and into a much better one. We don't see what he is doing, and therefore we refuse to take the steps we know we're supposed to take. How do we know what God wants us to do? Christians and non-Christians alike have access to the Bible and access to people who would be happy to discuss the Bible with you. Each of us has God's words and advice within us. Not to mention that, but in my opinion, each of us has Jesus with us, whether we acknowledge him or not. The second section of today's text, verse 10, reads, For I have set my face against this city for evil and not for good, saith the Lord. It shall be given into the hand of the King of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. In this verse, when God says he has set his face, this means he will not be deterred. His mind is made up. Similarly, evil is used here to mean punishment, but not for meanness or enjoyment, but as a way of correcting the Judeans. Continuing with the disobedient child theme, the Judeans here are going to be very upset once their punishment starts. It's like the teenager who's been warned that they're going to lose their car privileges if they come home late one more time. And ignoring their father, they wake up one morning after coming home late to find that the car keys are gone. They then go to their father in tears, pleading for their privileges back. But the father is undeterred. He warned them many times, they refused to change their behavior, and now they must accept their punishment. The father here has set his face and will not be swayed by pleading. He knows that this is what is best for his child and that this must be done. Likewise, once God has decided that we've been warned enough or that we have been willfully sinful for long enough, he brings up punishment to us. He punishes us as a correction, so that our lives will be better, and that we can one day go home to be with him. In the example of the earthly father, he knows the dangers that are out there and is doing the best he can to teach his child to avoid them so that she will not die. Our heavenly Father punishes us as a correction, so that we will live. The third section of today's text, verses eleven and twelve reads And touching the house of the King of Judah, say, Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of David, thus saith the Lord. Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like a fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. These two verses stress that the coming punishment will not spare anyone, specifically mentioning the house of the king of Judah. The reference to in the morning is not a literal statement, it is a reference to regularity or daily activity. In Judah, judgments are regularly rendered in the morning at the city gates. The judges and officials at the gates had been cheating the poor and turning justice on his head. This angered God and is part of why they will be punished. The very people charged with administering justice and maintaining justice are the ones doing injustice to those under their charge. Once true justice comes to them, what will they say? In my opinion, because of their position and responsibility, they will be punished even more severely. God allows us many chances to correct ourselves, but at some point he steps in with righteous anger and fury to correct the situation. The people here have ignored multiple prophets who told them that God was telling them to change their ways. I'm sure that over the years they became more and more confident that those prophets were wrong and that nothing would happen to them. But like the loving earthly father mentioned a moment ago, when punishment comes, it is too late to profess a change of heart and plead forgiveness. The last section of today's text, verses thirteen and fourteen, reads, Behold, I am against thee, O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the Lord, which say, Who shall come down against us, or who shall enter into our habitations? But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the Lord, and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it. The Judeans think they are safe from attack because of the valley and plains that protect them, because they have a high vantage point to see their enemies from afar off, and their enemies have to cross plains in plain sight. The Judeans cannot be easily attacked. They have deep valleys on three sides. This is added to their arrogance and smugness. In hindsight, it's sad that they think that this would protect them from God's punishment, but they had long ago stopped seeing God as a heavenly father, and are probably not thinking of him at all. They were probably comfortable and unworried right up until the punishment began. Second Peter chapter three, verse nine says, The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Romans chapter eleven, verse twenty two says, Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God. On them which fell, severity, but toward thee goodness. If thou continue in his goodness, otherwise there also shall be cut off. The Lord God is long suffering and patient, and his ways are not our ways. Because of this we often take his patience as a weakness or indifference. We feel that he is not going to do anything, or that he is just not paying attention. But while God is patient with us and is good to us, even though we do not deserve it, he is also severe and will take action against us in his time. Let us learn from the hard lessons of the people in our discussion today and listen for and to the Word of God. Read your Bible, do the will of God, and be blessed. If you fall, repent, truly repent, and start again. Choose life. That concludes our scripture discussion for today. Thank you for spending this time with me talking about, learning about, and enjoying Christ. It is my hope that God has used my words to touch you today and has brought you closer to Him. Let us pray. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debt towards. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. With that is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.