"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants." (Deuteronomy 30:19)In saying this, Moses acknowledges that those who stood on the east side of the Jordan river had a choice to make; a choice of their own free will; a choice that would lead to either life or death. Their choosing was not by merely mentally preferring one outcome over the other, rather the outcome of their choosing would be ratified by the lifestyle they chose to embrace. Their chosen lifestyle would determine whether they would receive life or death, blessing or cursing. Life and death were not their choice but rather the outcomes of their choice, their choice was to obey or disobey God. "In that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it." (Deuteronomy 30:16)
The outcome of their life was inextricably linked to their relationship with God. In their case, this was expressed in their obedience to, or rebellion from, the law. To the degree to which the adhered to the law, so did they experience the blessings of life, but to the degree to which they rebelled from God, so they experienced cursing and death. "But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it." (Deuteronomy 30:17-18)
In the same way, the quality of our life depends on our relationship with God, not through the law, but through Jesus. "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:10) If we draw near to God though Jesus then we find life, but if we draw back we find trouble, difficulty, and death. We find life "by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days." (Deuteronomy 30:20) Let us stop looking for life in every other place rather than in the one place where it can be found. Let us draw near to God, to love and obey Him, that we might receive His life. Let us choose a life with God.
David Robison
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