More on Matters of Life and Death

"Woe unto their soul! For they have rewarded evil unto themselves!" Isaiah 3:9b

The cyclical nature of the universe is inescapable. It is set up in the order of reaping and sowing (Galatians 6:7). It is evident in the life of Israel:

"Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings." (vs. 10)
"Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him." (vs. 11)

In both cases, their rewards are a result of "their doings" and "[their] hands." Their decisions are sentences that they pass on themselves. "But I thought blessings and judgments came from God!" That is true. However, God's movements are never arbitrary. They are always a response to something. "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword..." (vs. 19, 20). God's nature is goodness: He will reward good things to the righteous. God's nature is righteous as well: He will reward evil upon the wicked.
We need to take seriously the fact that our decisions decide our destines. Our choices are not mere results of our reasoning faculties at a point in time; they are the first in a chain of events that will lead to a logical consequence (see Deuteronomy 30:19, 20 & Proverbs 8:35, 36). Individualism is so rampant today that we truly believe that we are not only islands from other people but also from the order of the universe as well. This should not be, because it makes us take our decisions lightly, something we should never do. We have to get back to believing that we are part of the great design of the universe, that though we appear to the naked eye to be puny specks in it all, our decisions are like thrown stones into a pond: no matter how small they are, it is in the nature of the pond to ripple; and no matter how "puny" we seem, it is in the nature of the universe (on all levels: physically and spiritually) to "ripple" in response to what we do.
Do we actually believe that our decisions extend beyond ourselves? That they may have cosmic consequences? Of course not. If we did, we would not make the foolish decisions that we make everyday. May God help us to remember: if we choose God over self or anything else, the Spirit of God is released in and through us, releasing His life to creation, to which all of creation sings. However, if we choose anything (even good and noble things) over God, it is sin, and it releases death in and through us, to which the whole of creation is darkened. Our choices are not independent statements of individuality; they make us conduits of either life or death.
God is NOT a cosmic killjoy. He does not prudishly smash you when you have fun, or pat you on the back when you act like a dull goody two shoes (whatever that means). God's word is not just telling us about morality, but about the nature of the universe. Morality is the icing on the cake; there is something even more important then that, i.e., the fact that our moral/immoral decisions and choices send ripples of either life or death throughout the whole of creation, to ourselves (affect our relationship to our self), to others (affecting those relationships), and most seriously, all the way to the throne of God (affecting the most important relationship of all: our relationship to Him).
It is the power of the Spirit of God in us that helps us choose life. Death comes easy to us (see Romans 7:18-8:4). If only we truly believed our decisions and choices were matters of life and death.