When it comes right down to it, we have a choice. We can choose life or death, blessing or curse, the way of the Cross or the way of the world. The choice that we make has huge consequences, eternal consequences. The stakes are big ones, and we must choose wisely.
The command from Deuteronomy is clear: “Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.” The way of the Lord is life-giving, the way of the world is death. The way of the Lord is blessing, the way of the world is curse. The passing pleasures of the world are nothing compared to the eternal pleasures of God’s way.
Jesus asks us today to make a choice to take up our crosses and follow him. There is great suffering in the cross. But, as he says, what profit is there for us if we gain the whole world but lose our very selves? May we all this day renounce the hold the world has on us, and choose life, that we and our descendants might live.