2/23/12 - The Blessing and the Curse

Deuteronomy 30:15-19
Moses said to the people:
"Today I have set before you
life and prosperity, death and doom.
If you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God,
which I enjoin on you today,
loving him, and walking in his ways,
and keeping his commandments, statutes and decrees,
you will live and grow numerous,
and the LORD, your God,
will bless you in the land you are entering to occupy.
If, however, you turn away your hearts and will not listen,
but are led astray and adore and serve other gods,
I tell you now that you will certainly perish;
you will not have a long life
on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and occupy.
I call heaven and earth today to witness against you:
I have set before you life and death,
the blessing and the curse.
Choose life, then,
that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God,
heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.--------

These are some ancient words that are very much applicable to our lives today. We all have the same choice that Israel had -- life or death, the blessing or the curse. Choosing life means loving God, keeping His commandments, and walking in His ways. If we turn our back on those things, we choose separation from Him, and ultimately death.

The right choice to make is obvious. But ... we know how it played out for Israel. They kept turning their back on God, and choosing the wrong path. It's easy to look at it from a distance and chuckle about how stupid a choice this was. But when you take a close look at your own life on a day to day basis, you can see yourself making the same choices that Israel made.

It's easy to SAY "yes" to loving God, keeping His commandments, and walking in His ways. It is quite another to do it. As Moses says here, the proof is is in the action. And as Christ taught us, not a letter of the law has passed away. He came to fulfill the law, not to tear it down. WITH HIM, we can live that fulfillment. Without him ... well we all know what happens.