Date: 03-20-2021

Title: Choose Life

(S) cripture:
    Deuteronomy 30:11-20 (NLT2) “This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand, and it is not beyond your reach. 12 It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’ 13 It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’ 14 No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it. 15 “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. 16 For I command you this day to love the LORD your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy. 17 “But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, 18 then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. 19 “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! 20 You can make this choice by loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the LORD, you will live long in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

(O) bservation:
    As Moses addresses the people, he reminds them that God’s commands are not difficult to understand or far away and out of reach. They are given and the choice the people have is between life and death and blessing and curses. Moses then encourages the people to choose life.

(A) pplication:
    I often hear that the Bible is hard to understand and therefore hard or difficult to follow. I am reminded of a quote from Mark Twain, “It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.” I think that is true for most of us. For me, the Bible is not hard to understand but is impossible to live out in my own strength. I have a choice to make just like the Israelites. I must choose between life and death. I must choose between following Jesus and life or rejecting Jesus and death. I have chosen to follow Jesus and life. His promise to me is abundant life now and eternal life with Him. The Holy Spirit lives in me to empower me to live this life to the full and as a guarantee of eternal life to come. Today I choose life.

(P) rayer:
    Lord, thank you for being clear with your commands. Give me understanding and courage to follow you and to choose life. Let me encourage others to choose life, too. Amen