To Eat or to Be Eaten

A week or so ago, I was in Isaiah 1 in my daily Bible reading. I came across a couple of verses that really got me thinking.

"If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." (Isaiah 1:19-20)

This is in the context of judgement being proclaimed on Judah. Basically God's people were being bad (and I mean really bad) and God was preparing to punish them. But first He gave them a choice. They could either eat ... or be eaten.

In Isaiah 1:19, they were given the chance to be obedient to God, do a 180, and willingly turn from their sin. If they did that, they would get to "eat the good food of the land." That just meant that they would be blessed. But if they refused their second chance and continued in rebellion and sin against God, they would be eaten "by the sword" (i.e. punished and killed).

Now you may be wondering why I'm bringing this up. The answer is simply, though we may not be especially rebellious Israelities living back in the sixth century B.C., we are rebellious people living in the 21st century, and just like the Israelites we have a choice. A choice to obey God or not. A choice to be willing or to rebel. A choice to be blessed or to be punished. A choice to live or to die. A choice to eat or to be eaten. Which will you choose?