Deuteronomy 30:19-20New International Version (NIV)19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
In this life we have so many options to choose from: black or white, hot or cold, love or hate, and so on and so forth.
In Deuteronomy 30:19-20, Moses challenged the Israelites to choose the best, to choose life and blessings over death and curses. Life is a choice. Whatever situation we have now is the result of the choices we made in the past. We can do nothing about the past, but we can still make better choices for a better tomorrow. Trust me, I learned it the hard way. They say experience is the best teacher, but I say: "Experience of others is also a best teacher." We may even spare ourselves from the pain suffered in wrong choices and bad decisions made by other people. Isn't that a good news?
In choosing life and blessings over death and curses, we can have the three greatest fruit:
Love
God has lavished His love upon us. And we loved God because He FIRST loved us. Our love for God is the result of His love for us. Just like breathing, loving God should be as natural as breathing to us. God will not force His love upon us, but that as we understand His love for us, we will love Him in return. And the most practical way of showing our love for Him is to love our fellows in return.
Obedience
Sometimes people make a relationship with God sound impossibly difficult. Moses emphasizes its simplicity. You don't have to swim oceans or ascend to heaven; you just have to understand, believe, and obey the word God has given. In a famous New Testament passage, the apostle Paul applied this lesson to confessing faith in Jesus Christ. (Romans 10:6-10)
In our obedience to God, there is always a promise of reward.
Deuteronomy 30:16
16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
BUT in disobedience, here is what the Word of God says:
Deuteronomy 30:17-18
17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
Opportunities
Surely in our love and obedience to God comes opportunities and blessings in many forms. And the main purpose, I believe, is to give glory to God with the opportunities and so much blessings that He gave to us.
In this life we have so many options to choose from: black or white, hot or cold, love or hate, and so on and so forth.
In Deuteronomy 30:19-20, Moses challenged the Israelites to choose the best, to choose life and blessings over death and curses. Life is a choice. Whatever situation we have now is the result of the choices we made in the past. We can do nothing about the past, but we can still make better choices for a better tomorrow. Trust me, I learned it the hard way. They say experience is the best teacher, but I say: "Experience of others is also a best teacher." We may even spare ourselves from the pain suffered in wrong choices and bad decisions made by other people. Isn't that a good news?
In choosing life and blessings over death and curses, we can have the three greatest fruit:
Love
God has lavished His love upon us. And we loved God because He FIRST loved us. Our love for God is the result of His love for us. Just like breathing, loving God should be as natural as breathing to us. God will not force His love upon us, but that as we understand His love for us, we will love Him in return. And the most practical way of showing our love for Him is to love our fellows in return.
Obedience
Sometimes people make a relationship with God sound impossibly difficult. Moses emphasizes its simplicity. You don't have to swim oceans or ascend to heaven; you just have to understand, believe, and obey the word God has given. In a famous New Testament passage, the apostle Paul applied this lesson to confessing faith in Jesus Christ. (Romans 10:6-10)
In our obedience to God, there is always a promise of reward.
Deuteronomy 30:16
16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
BUT in disobedience, here is what the Word of God says:
Deuteronomy 30:17-18
17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
Opportunities
Surely in our love and obedience to God comes opportunities and blessings in many forms. And the main purpose, I believe, is to give glory to God with the opportunities and so much blessings that He gave to us.
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