Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Choose Life – Be Wise or Play the Fool

In the 1980s, pop band Wham headed by George Michael had the hit album called “Make It Big” featuring the song Wake Me Up Before You Go Go. The song clip showed the wearing of Katharine Hamnett T-shirts with the slogan “Choose Life”.
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These oversized shirts with large lettering might were more than a fashion statement. There was a subliminal message inherent in the design of the T-shirt. Hamnett’s website has the following statements:
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CHOOSE LIFE was relevant then. CHOOSE LIFE is even more relevant now.
CHOOSE LIFE is a message forever.
CHOOSE LIFE over WAR
CHOOSE LIFE over DESERTS
CHOOSE LIFE over EXTINCTION
CHOOSE LIFE over everything you do
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Even though Hamnett is openly a fan of Buddhism, her declaration reflects a broader theology (facts about God) and in this case more specifically, God’s design for life. The point I make is thus: Choose your life. Make the choice and don’t let others make it for you!
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Furthermore, choose wisdom or by default you choose foolishness. Both wisdom and folly have nothing to do with mental intelligence—they’re about morality. We have to make the deliberate choice for wisdom, and we do this by becoming a learner, the opposite of the ignoramus. Choose life. Choose wisdom. Choose prosperity.
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If we don’t make the choice to become wise, it’s not only us that suffers, but everyone else we know does too somewhat as we live to accept lie upon lie. Wisdom is truth. It is only the morally wise that live close to the truth. God is truth, and only the morally wise can believe in God and understand and “see” spiritual things. God is wisdom. God is life.
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“The wise are [those] who choose the path of learning instead of passing it by.” CHOICE. It’s not a choice for intellectual knowledge. It’s a choice for moral knowledge and how to live life; how to live life aright, justly, and fairly.
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Disciplined and prudent living is recognised by right, just, and fair behaviour. Choose life now. Choose wisdom; become discerning; stake insight; value knowledge and prudence.
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© Copyright 2008, Steven John Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
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Acknowledgement and quotations from Paul E. Koptak’s brilliant commentary on Proverbs, pp. 57-70, a Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003 version masterpiece.

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