Choose Life

Deuteronomy 30:1-20

Key Verse 30:19

This day I call heaven and 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.

God gave us the Bible so that we would know how to run our lives in a manner that is pleasing to God. So far we have talked about a few fundamentals on life-principles, such as blessings though obedience and curses through disobedience in Chapter 28, and the importance of the relationship with the Lord in Chapter 29. In this chapter, Moses drives his point home saying, "Choose life." What then is it to choose life? 

First, return to the Lord your God

Look at verses 1-2. "When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today..." 

This passage is prophetic; it foresees the Israelites going astray, only to return to God in repentance. This is consistent with God’s wisdom, that is, to tell them in advance that they might fail so that through failures they would learn a lesson, change their mind and come back. God knows that we would fail. Yet, when we fail, he wants us to learn a lesson, and come back to him for his love. I do not know how many times I have failed in my walk in the Lord. But I am very much comforted because God already foresaw that I would fail. Yet, I am very thankful that he left the door open for me to come back home. I don’t know about you. But let us not forget this one thing. God does not care how many times you have failed. But the important thing is for you to finally rise again and come back to the Lord. 

Second, the Lord will restore your fortunes

Practically, however, all of us can admit that it is not easy to return to the Lord. One of the great difficulties in coming back to the Lord is the lingering doubt on whether or not the Lord will forgive us and welcome us back to him. There is also the sense of shame, guilt, and self-condemnation. Yet the Lord says that if only we should decide to come back to him, the Lord will be gladly welcome us back and bless us more than ever. 

In verses 3-5, then, the Lord says that if they return he will certainly restore their fortunes (GPA’s, credit scores, jobs, monies sitting in the bank accounts, other personal properties such as cars like brand new Toyota’s or 12 Cylinder Jaguars, houses, ranches, friends, husband who is gentle and kind, faithful wife, obedient children, and much more). 

God will bless them not only materially but also spiritually. Look at verse 6. "The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live." Let us stop for a moment and think about the wonderful promise to circumcise their hearts as well as the hearts of their descendants. Here circumcision is not circumcision of the flesh. It is circumcision of the heart. How does God circumcise anyone’s heart? And what does it mean that God circumcises the heart of a man? According to Romans 2:29 circumcision is circumcision of the heart, and it is done by the Spirit. This tells us the way God transforms his children: if they come back, the Lord pours out his Spirit upon them, so that they would become a new creation. 

There is an even more wonderful promise for those who come back to the Lord.  Look at verse 9. "Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers..." Let us note the word "delight." The word "delight" means a "high degree of gratification." Each time I see my grand-daughters, they give me a high degree of satisfaction. I don't know why. Of course, they are not always with me. But still just the thought of them being here on this planet earth itself makes me joyful. According to verse 9, this is just what God feels when he sees his children coming back home. What a wonderful Father we have in Jesus!

Third, the word is very near you

The next thing to consider for an abundant life in the Lord is to feed ourselves on the living word of God and live by faith in God’s word. Look at verses 11-14. “Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, ‘Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.” Here Moses says that God’s word is not difficult to reach. Why? It is because God’s word is right in your mouth and in your heart. We know that God and his word are one and the same. With this being the case, we can rest assured that God is as close as the word of God put in our mouth and in our heart. He is literally in our mouths and in our hearts. 

One of the reasons why we find obedience to the Lord so difficult is the misguided notion that God is far away. So many think that it is difficult, if not impossible, to know God and his will for us.  But Moses says something very humorous: God is right in your mouth and in your heart. 

How did God make his way into their mouth and their hearts? God is so big, bigger than the universe. Yet how did he squeeze himself into the mouths and hearts of his children? We know the answer. During the Israelite’s forty long years in the desert, the Lord God trained them to eat the word of God. God put the Israelites in the Desert Sinai Spiritual Fitness Center, provided them with Moses as a personal trainer, and through him trained them for forty long years! 

But here a truly remarkable fact: it did not work out; majority of people still remained “out of shape.” Why? Was it because the program was bad? No. What went wrong then? 1 Thessalonians 2:13 gives us a clue: “And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.” If we believe, God’s word “works.” If we don’t, God’s word does not. Absolute majority of the Israelites did not believe. 

Fourth, life and prosperity, death and destruction

So far we have talked about three things: first, we need to return to the Lord; second, we need to be confident of God’s love and compassion; and third, we need to believe in his word. Now, let us think about the choices we are called to make. Look at verse 15. "See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction." Here we have two choices. Let us examine what they are. The choices before us are two: No. 1 – life and prosperity; No. 2 – death and destruction. Let us stop for a moment and think about what they are. 

LIFE and PROSPERITY

Life – here life does not mean just a biological life; oh, no. It means far more than that. It means the life that is filled with God’s Spirit – the spirit of love and power, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of knowledge and the spirit of the fear of the Lord. It denotes the life whose mind, heart, and spirit are fully opened to God, and thereby remains filled with heavenly visions and lofty ideals. 

Prosperity – again prosperity does not mean just the prosperity in a physical realm here and now; it means far more than things like material wealth, good marriage, many children, or longevity we might receive while we are in a physical body. In fact the prosperity here on this side of the grave is only a smallest fraction of what is yet to come. Soon the Risen Jesus himself will come down from heaven. Then the dead in Christ will rise first. After that we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord forever. We call the life in the eternal presence of God in the Lord as the life of prosperity without a limit. 

DEATH and DESTRUCTION

Death – here again not all people understand what death is all about. What is death? First of all “death” does not mean just the physical death. THIS IS IMPORTANT: Death is never a cessation of one’s existence. Rather it is a complete cessation of your ability to communicate with the loving ones – friends, families, and God forbid, God the Father, the author of life! Imagine a criminal confined in a solitary confinement – he is seated in a small concrete box behind the iron bars. No one visits; no one writes him or makes phone calls; no emails, no fellowship with anyone, not even with cockroaches. That person is physically alive, but remains virtually dead. He is living dead, so to speak.

Destruction – many think that once a man dies, that is about it; there is nothing going on beyond the grave. But the Bible maintains your existence continues beyond the grave. This is a huge problem for those who die “unsaved”. Just think about the rich man in hell. There the rich man (in Luke 16:22-31) was in torment. He looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, “Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the finger in water and cool my tongue because I am in agony in this fire.” But this is but one of the many examples of destructions that are going on beyond our physical existence - disasters, calamities, madness, anxiety, confusion, loneliness, sadness – all without a limit. 

In view of the discussions we have made so far, this passage indicates that the choice we are called to make comes with eternal consequences.  

Fifth, love the Lord your God or worship other gods

Now let us think about the practical aspect of the life or death heading for the two polar extremes. As we know, no rebel becomes a rebel over night. Once upon a time, Adolph Hitler, in his young adulthood, had a dream to live a holy life running a monastery; he wanted to live just like St. Augustine of Hippo or Saint Francis of Assisi. But one thing led to another, and he ended up butchering millions of innocent people. By the same token, no saint becomes a saint over night. Just think about all the struggles St. Augustine had to make. If you read his book entitled Confessions, you will understand what I mean. 

With this in mind, let us first consider how we see life and prosperity becoming a reality for us. How does it come? Look at verse 16. "For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, 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." This passage says that it all begins with us loving the Lord. When we love the Lord the Lord shows us his ways, and leads us to walk in his ways. Note that walking in his ways comes first and then keeping his commands comes after. It is not the other way around. “Ways” comes with a perspective, “commands” talk about the details. For example, Jesus’ way is love, mercy, and kindness. And love has many detailed commands, such as being patient. As we follow these steps, one by one, the Lord will lead us to life to the full. 

Let us then consider the process in which people end up in death and destruction. How does this happen? Look at verses 17 and 18. "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, 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." The first step is that your heart turns away from the Lord; the next step is to become disobedient; the third step is to be drawn away to bow down other gods and worship them. Here “other gods” refers to idolatry, such as adultery. When I visited Kenya, Missionary Mark Yoon encouraged me to watch the movie entitled Out of Africa. So the other day I watched the movie. This movie ends on a tragic note: A beautiful English woman married a rich man. The husband cheats on her. She catches VD from her husband. Eventually, she also starts cheating on her husband, resulting in a divorce. By the time she and her boyfriend want to marry, the boyfriend dies in an airplane crash. The movie ends with a funeral service. It was a sad story.

Sixth, now choose

Look at verse 19. "This day I call heaven and 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." Here two words stand out for our attention: Now and then choose. Now means right now, not tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Choose means to make a decision on one thing or another and in order to do so reject all others that are made to look fatally attractive. In this electronic age many things are made to look “fatally” attractive; choosing life then means to reject them all and go through the narrow gate. 

Seventh, the Lord is your life

The final key to making the right choice is found in verse 20, “[T]he LORD is your life…” Moses experienced this truth firsthand. One day he spent time with the Lord on the Lord’s mountain forty days and forty nights, without eating or drinking. Yet as he came down the mountain his face was shining so brightly that people could not look at him. So he had to put a veil on his face. The direct evidence that the Lord himself is our life is found in what Jesus said, for when Jesus came he solemnly declared to his followers: “I am the bread of life; I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if anyone eats this bread he will live forever.” (John 6:48,51) The Apostle John then said, “In him was life and that life was the light of man.” Today then let us all make a decision to believe in the Lord and accept him as the Lord and Savior. If anyone has already made this decision, let us renew the decision to love him, hold him fast, walk in his ways, and keep his commands. 

One word: Now choose 

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