Deuteronomy 30:19–20 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lordyour God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
By restating the rules and commands of God, Moses presented to the nation of Israel a choice between two ways of living. If the people of Israel choose to obey the commands and laws of God, they will be given life and blessing. If the people choose to disobey the commands and laws of God, they will be given death and curse. When the choice is put before them so starkly, every Israelite would choose life and blessing over death and curse, wouldn’t they?
Once in the land of Canaan, it is incredible how quickly many Israelites chose death and curse. Why? The temptations to leave the pathway of life and blessing were numerous and enticing. The temptations to follow false gods and false teachings were also powerful. Learning about the false gods of the occupying nations appealed to the base human desires of many Israelites. The people were taught that false gods would bring prosperity and provision if the people entertained the gods with sexual perversity and offered sacrifices to appease the pagan deities. The choice to disobey the commands and laws of God infected the hearts and minds of the people of Israel and their children for generations.
Isn’t it amazing that the enemy's tactics may change in name, but the form and substance of the temptations to depart the ways of God remain the same. The lie is that fulfillment and satisfaction, provision and safety, will be found by satisfying one’s nerve endings and joining with the masses of deviants to pay a significant price of time and resources to satisfy the demands of the various gods of our age. The result is chaos, confusion, and various forms of ruination.
But for the people of God, the promise of God still stands. Learning the will and ways of the Lord and wholeheartedly obeying the Lord will bring the blessing of the Lord to our lives and our children's lives. We must learn about the joys of loving and living for the Lord and teaching our children and others to do the same.
The Lord has defined the choice that is before us. Obeying the Lord produces lives built on truth and obedience that bring the blessing of God-honoring purpose and fulfillment that flow forward into future generations. Choosing to walk with the culture of death will bring short-term pleasures that end up in chaos, contamination, and corruption that also flow forward into future generations.
Walking in the will and ways of our Lord will bring us and our future generations His blessing and joy. May God inspire us to choose to obey the Lord in all our ways!
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