Ka Ipu o Lono shares weekly devotionals to provide spiritual enrichment to members of the Kamehameha Schools ‘ohana. For more inspiration, visit the KS “Our faith” website.
Heluhelu Baibala
Lawe aʻela ʻo Iēhova ke Akua i ke kanaka, a hoʻonoho ihola iā ia ma ka mahina ʻai ma ʻEdena, e mahi a e mālama ia wahi. 16 Kauoha maila ʻo Iēhova ke Akua i ke kanaka, ʻī maila, E ʻai wale ʻoe i ko kēia lāʻau kēlā lāʻau o ka mahina ʻai nei. – Kinohi 2:15-16 15
Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and tend it. 16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die.” – Genesis 2:15-16
He manaʻo o ke kahu
Each day, from the moment we wake up, we are faced with countless choices. Do I hit the snooze bar and get a few more minutes of sleep or do I jump out of bed and start the day running? What do I wear – something stylish so others will notice or something comfy? Do I allow that other driver to merge into my lane or do I cut them off?
The choices never stop coming. What makes a difference in your answer? To me, it’s a choice between what I want or what would help the other person. Honestly speaking, I was the guy who would speed up and let you cut in… after me. Or decisions were made about what I wanted without much consideration on the other person. I didn’t like that side of me, so I chose to choose others first. I now let others merge in. I choose to let go of things that have been bothering me, instead of hanging on to grudges. In other words, I choose life.
When God created the Garden of Eden, he planted a choice. “Out of the ground the Lord God caused every tree to grow that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Genesis 2:9) He gave all of that to Adam and Eve to eat, except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And as humans do, they chose to do that which they shouldn’t have, and sin entered the world. They had the choice to choose life, but they chose death instead.
I pray that you might choose life for 2023. As Moses told the Hebrew people, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have placed before your life and death, the blessing and the curse. So, choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,” (Deut. 30:19). Choose life, so you might give live and give life to others and thereby spread ke aloha o Ke Akua, and may HIS joy abound abundantly.
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