Deuteronomy 30:19-20,  “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore chose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

I know this young couple whose love for each other is so overwhelmingly obvious.  It is awesome to see the respect they have for each other and their true love for each other more than themselves.  They have been through a lot and at one point when he was so ill that they didn’t know if he would make it she told him, “I’m not ready to live without you ~ don’t leave me.” We need to love God with that love where we don’t want to live a moment of our days without Him. The more you know Him the more you will love Him and you will want to cling to Him and do all that He says!  I was listening to a Jewish Pastor/Rabbi yesterday and he made the comment that “God gave you life so every moment you have is to be used for God.”  While that may sound like a tall order what he was saying is that if our hearts are set on loving God and we pursue Him as we should then no matter what we are doing, we will have a heart to do it in a way that honors Him and our desires in life will line up with Him and His Word.  God didn’t give us His direction and Words to be a burden, they are there to protect us because He loves us and He knows what is best.  That doesn’t mean your life will be free from pain but it does mean He will be there through all you face whether it is good or bad so you never have to face anything alone!

The first part of these verses is used a lot when it comes to what we say to ourselves and to others, but today I want to look at it the way Moses was actually saying it.  He wasn’t giving them a lecture on just what to say but on how they should live!  If you notice there’s no period until the end of verse 20 so here’s a brief explanation of what the use of that semicolon means:  a semicolon is most commonly used to link (in a single sentence) two independent clauses that are closely related in thought, such as when restating the preceding idea with a different expression.  When a semicolon joins two or more ideas in one sentence, those ideas are then given equal rank.  So, today let’s dive into the entire thing!  And the really great thing about all of this is, if we will live our lives the way God has told us to our words and thoughts will be right!

First of all when Moses said, “I have set before you life and death….” he had just gone over the entire law or guides for how God was calling them to live in the land they were heading into. He gave them warnings that if they chose other gods it would bring a curse on them but if they would follow Him and listen to His leading it would bring life and His blessings.  As we all know they went back and forth on that over and over, just as most Christians do unfortunately even to this day.  While we do not live under the law for salvation, we are called to live our lives according to His words.  He has laid it all out for us we don’t have to wonder what He says, as it says in Deuteronomy 30: 11-14, “For this law which I am giving you today is not too hard for you; it is not beyond your reach.  It isn’t in the sky, so that you need to ask, ‘Who will go up into the sky for us, bring it to us, and make us hear it, so that we can obey it?’  Likewise, it isn’t beyond the sea, so that you need to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea for us, bring it to us, and make us hear it, so that we can obey it?’  On the contrary, the word is very close to you ~ in your mouth, even in your heart; therefore, you can do it!”  I feel the last part of that is even more for us because we have the Holy Spirit living within us once we have accepted Jesus as our Savior so the power that raised Jesus from the dead will give us all we need to live a life of victory that will honor God!  We don’t have to look for a way, He has given us His Word AND His Spirit.  

I would just like to encourage you to pursue Him and His plan for your life.  His plan is by far better than anything else you could possibly do because He loves you!  Strive to know Him and your love for Him will grow.  The world is headed in a bad direction and unfortunately, everyone pays a price on some level because of it and the more we follow Him and the more we are like Him the better they will see their need for Him.  Let’s be so full of Him that they can’t help but see Him and be drawn to Him!

Quote:  “All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.”  ~ Helen Keller