I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live. - Deuteronomy 30:19 NKJV. 

The West Coast port shutdown (2002) is continuing in the United States with twenty-nine ports now shutdown from Seattle to San Diego. The ships are backing up in the ports with nowhere to go with their cargo. Those ships will be unable to leave to pick up and deliver more cargo. On shore, things are quickly growing into a crisis situation. Factory after factory is facing shutdown as they run out of materials needed for their products. 

Some companies are considering using planes to fly in materials but, of course, this will be much more expensive and raise the cost of goods. The economic consequences of the shutdown are spreading with the result of rising prices and shortages of goods. Employees too are being idled on a wider and wider scale as the shutdown continues resulting in substantial loss of income and further slowing the economy. 

The fact is that spiritually some people do choose the path of death and cursing. That path at first does not seem so bad much like the port shutdown but as time moves along more and more negative consequences are seen. 

When someone begins to use illegal substances, there may not be any immediate consequences. However, because of the addictive nature of the substances more and more money is required to use them. That money is taken away from where it normally would be used. The person who chooses this path begins to be late in making payments and then is unable to make payments. Often jobs are lost and then material possessions are used up and many times people end up on the street. 

For the substance abuser, relationships begin to deteriorate as their decision-making abilities are impaired by the harmful effects of the substances and often psychological abnormalities arise. Eventually, marriages break apart, children are taken away, and many end up in prison or their lives come to an end through an overdose or poor health, which resulted from their use of the illegal substances. 

The same deterioration is seen with other sinful activities, although it may not be as dramatic. Having an affair, for example, is going down the wrong path, the path of cursing and death. Every area of your life is affected, and usually it is like the port shutdown with a stagnation and slowdown that result in an eventual meltdown. 

We do have set before us on a continual basis two choices. We can choose life, or we can choose death. With each decision, we ought to ask ourselves whether the result of that decision leads to more life, or if it will lead to a deadening in our life. 

The real cost of sin is always more than we really want to pay. If you have been going down the path of cursing and death, turn around! Stop choosing death and begin choosing life. Begin today!