The Timeless Wisdom of Deuteronomy 30:19 Every Young Man Should Hear

“Choosing life” consistently will set you up for a blessed life according to the Creator of existence.

My son leaves for basic training soon, and I told him the most vital understanding to have in life is found in  Deuteronomy 30:19. The verse says:

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day: I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life—if you and your offspring would live—“

Simply put, your life satisfaction will be a direct result of your choices.

Choosing Life vs. Choosing Decay

Every decision you make carries one of these two labels. 

But of course, in real-world terms, “choosing life vs choosing decay” is not a literal message. No, it doesn’t mean you’ll drop dead on the spot when you make wrong choices.

When you “choose life,” you choose goodness, righteousness, and pretty much anything associated with the Creator of the Universe that leads to flourishing and improvement.

By default, not choosing life means you’ve chosen decay or some eventual unpleasant or negative outcome in your life.

The Mistake I Made

We humans suffer unnecessarily because we don’t realize that the truth of Deuteronomy 30:19 is at work in every inch and cranny of our lives constantly.

I can see it clearly in how certain things in my life unfolded.

Today, I am a product of the total tally on my “ledger of life” that has accounted for my good vs. bad choices up to this point. 

And yes, I consider myself extremely blessed, but I am definitely regretful now of how obvious “death” choices of my past have shaped my present.

For one, I wish I had pushed through and addressed my low self-confidence as a young adult.

It led to a lack of fruitful personal interactions that I’m sure could have been beneficial in my life.

In school, I was scared to be involved or do things because I felt that everyone around me knew each other, knew more than I did, or knew what they were doing. 

So generally, I was disengaged from the norm. 

But now I understand what was really going on. No one really knew more about life, current events, or pop culture than I did, as I feared. 

However, they did engage in a “life-promoting” activity by simply participating in human communication and interaction. I didn’t, because I thought I had to be perfect, just as I perceived them to be.

And today, I see the many missed opportunities in life due to my lack of interaction. 

For example, my wife’s an attorney. (Ironically, I met her during this “scared to talk to people” period in my life. She approached me, of course, and I’ve been thanking God ever since.:)

I’ve come to love what she does. Probably even more than she does. And now I realize I could’ve done that if I had just overcome my allergy to personal interaction while I was in school.

I have many other examples of how choices I didn’t necessarily feel were “deadly” at one time have indeed manifested as such. For instance, I chose “death” in small doses in my food choices for an extended period in my life, and now I’m definitely paying for it.

All of that to say, “choosing life vs choosing decay” is what every single decision in our lives is founded on. 

Choose Life in Relationships 

I emphasized the importance of “choosing life” to my son regarding the company he will decide to keep.

To clarify, I’m not saying you shouldn’t interact with people who aren’t godly — that’s impossible in the world we live in. You’ll have co‑workers, classmates, even family members who don’t share a faith perspective. 

But in particular, when it comes to close personal relationships, “choosing life” is one of the most important things you’ll do in life.

And to put it bluntly, every person you let close to you either helps you flourish or slowly pulls you down.

Those are the only two outcomes when you choose your intimate friends, girlfriend, etc.

And what you’ll see is this: the closer a relationship is to life-affirming, godly principles, the stronger and more enduring it will be.  

I know this from personal experience.  

I didn’t realize it at the time, but the reason my marriage has lasted nearly thirty years is that it became rooted in something divine.  

The relationship I had before that? It slowly decayed like a three‑day‑old carcass.

Years later, I understood why — nothing godly was in the picture, on her part or mine.  

So yes, decay is the natural result of anything not infused with divine purpose and wisdom.

The Ripple Effect of Choosing Life (or Death)

The principle of “choosing life” applies to everything.  

Understand that your choices, even as small and inconsequential as you think they may be,  have a ripple effect on the “big picture” scope of your life.

The question is, will the ripple effect of any given choice lean towards life or death, growth or decay?

That is the question I pray my son will grapple with intentionally, purposely, and wisely through every decision in his life. The algorithm of God’s creation demands it.