Choose Life

There are moments in life when the real question is not, “What do I know?” but, “What will I choose?” Because the truth is, we can know the right thing and still choose the wrong thing. We can know what is healthy and still choose what is harmful. We can know what God has said and still wrestle with whether we will trust Him enough to obey.

That is the kind of moment Israel faced in Deuteronomy 30. After years in the wilderness, after seeing God provide, protect, correct, and lead them, Moses stands before the people and says, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life.” But Moses is clear: choosing life is not simply choosing better circumstances. It is loving the Lord, obeying His voice, and holding fast to Him, because “He is your life.”

That phrase matters. God is not just the giver of life. He is life.

When we come to John 6, we find another wilderness moment. John tells us it is near Passover. Jesus goes up a mountain. He feeds a multitude in a deserted place. He crosses the sea. The people start talking about Moses and manna. Then they begin to grumble. If you know the Old Testament story, it feels familiar. Another wilderness. Another bread. Another voice calling God’s people to trust.

But this time, Moses is not standing before them. Jesus is. Manna is not lying on the ground. The Bread of Life is standing in front of them.

And everybody encounters the same Jesus. They witness the same miracle. They hear the same teaching. They receive the same invitation. But they respond in different ways.

Some disciples say, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” These are not strangers. These are people who had followed Jesus. They had seen His works. They had benefited from being near Him. But when His words became difficult to accept, they turned back and no longer walked with Him.

That is sobering, because sometimes we like the comforting Jesus but resist the confronting Jesus. We love the Jesus who says, “Come to Me,” but struggle with the Jesus who says, “Take up your cross.” We love the Jesus who forgives, but wrestle with the Jesus who says, “Go and sin no more.”

But a Jesus who never confronts us cannot transform us.

Not every hard word is a harmful word. Sometimes the word that wounds our pride is the word trying to rescue our lives. Grace does not always sound like comfort. Sometimes grace sounds like, “Stop.” Sometimes it sounds like, “Leave that.” Sometimes it sounds like, “Forgive them.” Sometimes it sounds like, “You cannot keep living this way.”

The danger is that when following Jesus becomes hard, going back starts looking attractive. Israel did that in the wilderness. They remembered Egypt’s food and forgot Egypt’s chains. And we do the same thing. We remember the pleasure and forget the emptiness. We remember the comfort and forget the bondage. We remember what sin gave us and forget what sin took from us.

When freedom gets difficult, slavery can start looking familiar.

Then Jesus turns to the Twelve and asks, “Do you want to go away as well?” Peter answers, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

That is not the answer of a man who understands everything. Peter does not say, “Jesus, everything You just said makes perfect sense.” He says, in essence, “I may not understand everything, but I know enough about You to keep trusting You.”

That is faith. Faith is not pretending we have no questions. David had questions. Job had questions. Habakkuk had questions. The disciples had questions. Faith is bringing our questions to the One we have come to know.

Sometimes the “Who” has to carry us when we do not have the “why.”

But John 6 gives us one more warning. Judas stayed. He did not walk away with the crowd. He remained with the Twelve. He stayed close to Jesus, close to miracles, close to ministry, close to the room. But staying in the room is not the same as surrendering to Jesus.

That may be the most uncomfortable part of the passage. Some people walk away with their feet. Others walk away in their hearts while their feet remain in church. Judas reminds us that proximity is not the same as surrender. We can know the songs, know the Scriptures, serve in ministry, and still keep parts of our hearts closed to Christ.

So the question is not only, “Are you still here?” The deeper question is, “Does Jesus have you?”

Moses said, “Choose life.” Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go?” And Jesus still stands before us with the same invitation.

Choose life. Choose Jesus when His words are hard. Choose Jesus when obedience costs you. Choose Jesus when you do not understand. Choose Jesus when everyone else walks away. Choose Jesus when the old life starts calling your name.

Because Jesus is not merely the One who gives life.

Jesus is life.