Learning to Think Things Through

And the LORD will bring you back in ships to Egypt, a journey that I promised that you should never make again; and there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.  Deuteronomy 28:68

Nearly 30 years ago, when in medical school, I began running marathons. I wasn’t fast, but I was purposeful in my training. I’d sign up for a race months in advance, plan my running schedule, and then work diligently towards my goal. I trained hard and ate well, keeping race day in mind. Then, however, in residency, as my opioid addiction was born, something changed in my brain. As I fed my now appetite, my ability to think about tomorrow decayed. I still desired to be in shape and run marathons, so I’d sign up, telling myself that the goal would force me to get back into shape. In my addiction though, I could think only about now and in the now, I never wanted to train or eat well. So, I spent a lot of time sitting on the couch eating donuts. Then, when race day came, I was overweight, out of shape, and all around miserable. In my wretched state, I’d vow that things would be different next time, but I was addicted and so I made a lot of empty promises.

Recovery then, has meant relearning to think things through – to think, not just about right now, but about tomorrow. I know I want this right now, but how will I feel about this decision in the morning? Will this decision bring me joy or regret? Will this thing make me who I want to be, or will it simply feed my appetite momentarily, filling me with remorse tomorrow? Growth and maturity mean learning to say no to impulsivity, weighing the consequences of every decision.

This is the message of today’s passage. In it, Moses predicted what would happen if the Israelites turned their backs on God, following themselves instead. In their disobedience, God’s people would self-destruct, returning to the old life of slavery in Egypt. As they stood on the precipice of entering the promised land, Moses beseeched them to weigh the consequences of every decision. Is this choice a step towards the new life God intends for you? Or, is it a step back towards the old life of slavery?

We face a similar choice every day. Daily, we can follow God, choosing to think about tomorrow and the new life. Or we can impulsively follow our nature, ignore the consequences, and make decisions that we’ll regret in the morning. As always, the choice is ours and the outcome is predictable.