Day 2: Choices, Choices

February 19, 2026

Day 2: Choices, Choices

February 19

Readings:

Reflection:

If you'd like to watch this devotional video after reading the two scriptures, click here.

In Deuteronomy, the most common word other than "Lord" is life/live. God offers a fork-in-the-road moment in this passage. God's language may seem harsh, but like an ER doc ripping clothes to shock someone's heart to life, God offers a wake-up moment to Moses and the people he was leading... God offers the wake-up call today, to us, in 2026 as well.

Let's snap out of the typical patterns and make more intentional choices. Let's properly estimate: What will come of living the way we have been? For me, very concretely, I need to lower my cholesterol. That's a fork in the road. I can live like it's true or not. Both will have consequences, no doubt. My turning away from it does not change it. Same here in Deuteronomy, we must read this and take stock in the season of Lent. What are we building? For whom? Why? We don't need to answer all the questions today, and that is why we fast, or give up something, during this time; so we might hone our attention and return to God more consistently. This season is not simply sober or repentant; it is an investment in life and deeper love for and with God, our loved ones, and our spiritual communities.

In Deuteronomy, it was literal physical death on the line. Several rules in Deuteronomy were medical in nature. There was no urgent care clinic. Nowadays, with so much anxiety, and our attention exasperated by blue screens, with so much processed food and cheap food products, and when so many other categories of "easy everywhere", it is still very much about physiological and mental health. We must work at devotion, even if that looks like putting the phone down and sitting with this passage in Deuteronomy. Now pause and consider: what do you need to start or stop? What might be the consequences, either way?

Now, read Luke again in light of today's Deuteronomy passage. Isn't that something...? God's favorite thing that he gave us was choice. It is, perhaps, the way we are most like God. We have the power to choose and create an impact. Let us partner with God to assess our impact so far, and let us choose to celebrate righteous choices and grieve properly the choices that don't align with the character of Jesus.

Song:

Lord, Have Mercy, by Michael W. Smith