The fork in the road Moses pointed out to the nation of Israel is a decision every person must make for himself. Not just those present, not just those in the future of the nation Israel, but in a real sense every person who ever lives must choose between life or death. Everyone must choose. To not choose, is to make a choice. But it is the nature of the sinner to put off making the decision to follow God’s ways. We tend to try mix the two ways. We are obedient when it suits us, and when it doesn’t, we are simply disobedient.

We’ve all had to make difficult decisions in our lives. Whether to own or rent a house, whether to use an inheritance to invest or to see the world, whether to have more children or close up shop. But as difficult as those decisions may feel at the time, I’m sure not many of us have had to make the decision 28 year-old Aron Ralstron made in 2005. Aron had to choose to live or die.

It all started when he broke the cardinal rule of mountain climbing: always take a buddy, or at least tell someone where you are going. He went climbing on his own and after climbing down a narrow slot in Bluejohn Canyon, Utah, a boulder shifted and crushed his left arm, pinning him to the canyon wall.

He tried desperately to move the rock but it wouldn’t budge an inch. Aron wasn’t expected at work for days, and when people did decide to come looking for him, they would have no idea where to start. He knew he was going to die. He carved his name and “RIP” in the rock and used his camera to record messages to his family. After 5 days he was famished, dehydrated, and dying. That’s when he had to make a choice: live or die.

He chose life, but it came at a price.

Aron used the blunt 2-inch blade on his multitool pocketknife and methodically sawed off his own arm, through the skin, the muscle, the nerves, and eventually the bone, after which, he still had to climb down a 65-foot drop and hike 7 miles before he was picked up.

But the decision had been made. He wanted to live and was willing to do whatever it took.

In Deuteronomy 30 we see Israel, on the plains of Moab, poised to enter the Promised Land. Moses reminds them yet again of God’s goodness, their responsibilities to the covenant, and the consequences of disobedience.

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