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The Life You Are Choosing

This life you choose by meeting your physical needs of food and drink is, as a Bible writer of long ago said, ‘of few days and full of trouble.’ (Job 14:1, 2) Some of the troubles of this life are shown below. Is this life your only choice? Is there a better choice now available to you, one that is free of all the woes of this life we sustain by breathing, eating and drinking?

ME FIRST

The me-firsters’ creed, as expounded by the me-ism philosophers: “Looking out for number one.” “You have the right to judge your own behavior.” “Sink the guilt trip.” Today’s idolatry is Me-olatry, says God’s Word: “Their god is their bodily desires.” Also, “greed is a form of idolatry.” (Phil. 3:19; Col. 3:5, Today’s English Version) This new religion of Self was foretold for our times: “Men will be lovers of themselves.” (2 Tim. 3:1, 2) Love of Me pushes aside love of Thee​—my neighbor.

FAMILY DECAY

Marriage is downgraded, divorces soar, children suffer as me-ism flourishes. “The ‘me’ philosophy is contributing to the high divorce rate.” (Dr. Robert Taylor) The modern parent “now gives priority to his own right to self-fulfillment.” (Newsweek) The family circle suffers. This Me Generation ignores the lessons of history, so they are condemned to repeat it. “Entire civilizations have survived or disappeared, depending on whether family life was strong or weak.”​—The World Book Encyclopedia, 1978.

CRIME

Jesus foretold “the increasing of lawlessness.” (Matt. 24:12) Our generation is proving him true. In 1979, in America, “murders rose by 10 percent, assaults by 10 percent, forcible rapes by 13 percent and robberies by 12 percent. For the first six months of 1980, serious crime jumped 10 percent.” (U.S. News & World Report) The story is the same in other nations. Many businessmen are honest; many others swindle, manipulate, evade taxes, cheat customers. And many people steal from the businessman. “America’s most resourceful and successful crook,” one report said, “wears a white collar.” Or a blue one.

HUNGER

“There will be food shortages,” Jesus foretold. (Matt. 24:7) Last year the Los Angeles Times reported: “Nearly 450 million people in the world are starving, experts on world food supplies estimate, and 800 million to 1 billion are on the edge of starvation.” The earth produces enough food, but an equable distribution of it is “up against powerful entrenched interests.”

TERRORISM

An escalating danger, as the New York Daily News of November 25, 1979, proved: “Terrorism​—that is, assassinations, kidnapings, bombings, planned personal assaults—​are way up, from 206 in 1972, to 572 in 1975, to 1,256 in 1977, to 1,511 in 1978, to 2,662 in the first nine months of this year [1979].” As the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, terrorism will mushroom more and more.

WAR AND EXTINCTION

“The momentum of military technology drives the superpowers towards an inescapable nuclear war.” (Dr. Frank Barnaby, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) “We believe that nuclear war will bring no advantage to anyone and may even lead to the end of civilization.” (Soviet military expert) “For the love of God, of your children, and of the civilization to which you belong, cease this madness!”​—George F. Kennan, former U.S. ambassador to Moscow.

POLLUTION AND EXTINCTION

“The planet Earth is gradually being polluted to death.” (The Globe and Mail) “Mankind is in danger of polluting itself off the face of the earth.” (The Guardian) “Pollution is more than a problem of individual countries: It is a problem of the global village. . . . If we fail in this, we will guarantee the eventual extinction of our own species.” (The Toronto Star) In former President Carter’s farewell address he indicated that pollution was “a time bomb, as great a threat to our global survival as is the threat of nuclear annihilation.” Is it not time for God to ‘ruin those who are ruining the earth’?​—Rev. 11:18.

This present life is a poor choice. Nevertheless, people choose to live on. They may be crippled, yet they desire life; they may be blind, yet are afraid to die. The deaf and speechless choose life, and the old and feeble cling to it. “Man,” Job said, “that is born of woman, is of few days and full of trouble. Like a blossom he comes forth and is withered, and he flees like the shadow and does not endure.”​—Job 14:1, 2, An American Translation.

This life many are choosing is short. It is full of trouble. It is a poor choice. But do they have a better choice?