In the Middle-Earth stories The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, we encounter the story of Gollum. Gollum started out looking and acting like everyone else. But a magic ring caught his attention, and over time, he was transformed into a hideous creature who lived only for the ring—or as he called it, “my precious.” Eventually, his love for the ring leads to his death. When we choose to love the Lord, we are choosing life, and when we choose to love something else, the result is death (Deuteronomy 30:15–20).