Readings for today: Deuteronomy 28-30
I have the privilege of walking with a lot of people from a lot of different walks of life in my work as a pastor. They give me the honor of sharing their lives with me. They share their successes and failures, their joys and sorrows, their happiness and heartbreaks with me. Some of them have experienced incredible transformation and triumph. Others seem to never get out of the spiral they find themselves in. Almost always, the key difference has to do with surrender to God.
It’s tempting to read through today’s verses and find “cause and effect.” If I do this, God will do this. If I obey, God will bless. If I disobey, God will curse. Conclusion? Obey and I will live. Disobey and I will die. However, we all know life is not that two-dimensional. It can’t be flattened out. Life is far more complicated because human beings are far more complicated. We are a mixture of all kinds of emotions and motivations that drive our choices and behavior. Who among us can truly say we make decisions with the purest of motivations? I don’t believe any of us can make that claim honestly. There is always a bit of selfishness involved even when we are at our most noble and godly.
The nation of Israel lived in a covenantal relationship with God. The covenant was not based on their obedience but God’s faithfulness. At the same time, there are blessings when we obey God. When we prioritize what He cares about. When we put Him first and worship Him alone. Does that mean all of us will experience health and wealth like the prosperity preachers promise? No. This is not a means to a worldly end. God cares far more about the state of our souls than He does the balance in our bank accounts. He cares far more about the people we are becoming on the inside than the outside. It’s not that God doesn’t care for our bodies. He does! And He will raise us physically from the grave in the resurrection! It’s just that God understands how temporary life in this world can be. Even at our best, we might live into our nineties or maybe one hundred. But our health will fail. Our wealth will eventually be useless to us. So why put our focus there? Focus instead on the higher things. The more important things. Like how our lives bring glory and honor to God. “The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he swore to you, if you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you bear the Lord’s name, and they will stand in awe of you.” (Deuteronomy 28:9-10 CSB) Bearing the Lord’s name. That’s the true blessing of obedience.
And it’s why God is so quick to forgive when we fail and fall short. When Israel disobeys the covenantal commands and falls away, God offers them a way back through repentance and forgiveness and grace. “When all these things happen to you, the blessings and curses I have set before you, and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and all your soul by doing everything I am commanding you today, then he will restore your fortunes, have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. Even if your exiles are at the farthest horizon, he will gather you and bring you back from there. The Lord your God will bring you into the land your ancestors possessed, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply you more than he did your ancestors. The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love him with all your heart and all your soul so that you will live.” (Deuteronomy 30:1-6 CSB)
Friends, there’s always an opportunity to choose life. It’s never too late to turn from sin. We are never too far gone. We are never without hope. The arm of the Lord is long and the reach of His grace is great. I love how Psalms 139 puts it, “Where can I go to escape your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I fly on the wings of the dawn and settle down on the western horizon, even there your hand will lead me; your right hand will hold on to me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me, and the light around me will be night” — even the darkness is not dark to you. The night shines like the day; darkness and light are alike to you.” (Psalms 139:7-12 CSB)
Readings for tomorrow: Deuteronomy 31-34