The Lord made sure they had understood
this encouragement would come at a price of commitment; it was conditioned. In
other words that in order to be able to be blessed they would have to act upon
God’s plan, and then they could obtain the promised.
In chapter 30, the terms He had commanded
for them to follow said to be not too complicated but rather simple, in fact resumed
in three words, Love the Lord! This
is the same commandment we have to follow still today; it hasn’t changed in
thousands of years, LOVE THE LORD!!! These are some of the bases God
is telling these people to do (and by the way, to us too); adding a few thing,
that as The GOD of the universe He deserves, and for us is a must do.
As an incentive The Lord shares
with them some of the good things (blessings) that will come to them as a
reward for those who keep the command, decrees and regulations He had given
them early. In addition to sharing with them this incentive, He admonishes them
in regards to those that choose to walk away from HIS plan.
After all is set and done, and He’d
explained what HE wants, how HE wants it, the pro’s and con’s of following Him
or not, HE gives them the freedom to choose (FREE WILL). At the same time, HE
leads them to choose life, so the blessings will rain over them. And at the end
He assures them that’s the key to life!
1 “This command I AM giving you today is not too difficult for you,
and it is not beyond your reach. 12 It is not
kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven
and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’ 13 It is not
kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the
sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’14 No, the
message is very close at hand; IT IS on
your lips and in your heart so that you can OBEY IT.
15 “Now listen! Today I AM giving you a choice between life and death,
between prosperity and disaster. 16 For I
command you this day TO LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD and
to keep His commands, decrees, and regulations by walking
in His ways. If you do this, you
will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the
land you are about to enter and occupy. 17 “But if
your heart turns away and you refuse to
listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other
gods, 18 then I warn you now that you will certainly be
destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the
Jordan to occupy.
19 “Today I
have given you the choice between life and death, between
blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice
you make. Oh, that you would CHOOSE LIFE,
so that you and your descendants might live! 20 You can make
this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying Him,
and committing yourself firmly to Him. This is the
key to your life.”
Hey that’s for us too!!! The Lord created us; we are HIS
creation[1];
then the choice of serving HIM or not, it’s ours. We ought to choose life!
Today, when we love someone, we follow them on Instagram or
Tweeter, we call them, keep in close touch, do things to get the relationship
going closer and deeper as the feelings grow.
For us girls if we know our guy likes movies, we try to get them tickets
for movies; if he likes cars we buy them “Hot Wheels” unless you can afford to
buy him a real car. For the men, if he
knows his girl likes flowers, he will do whatever to buy her flowers. No matter
how long the list of things our especial someone has, we go for it, to impress
them, to get them to be with us and ultimately love us enough to marry us. I
mean, that’s the goal of dating, the long lasting life commitment of marriage.
In regards to our Lord God, HE ought to be the first long
lasting life commitment we ever have, even before marriage! Because just as with these people, the ripple
effect of choosing HIM, will impact the future choices of getting to know the
person HE has chosen for us to marry some day.
When we come to chapter (31), and
we have The Lord encouraging everyone to be strong, courageous, and not afraid
or in panic because although He had given them the con’s of not following them
which they were not a good thing, HE had given them the list of pro’s and promised
to be with them. So HE reminds them
again, that HE will personally go ahead of them that He would NOT leave them.
But of course that was conditioned to their obedience.
“6 So BE STRONG
AND COURAGEOUS! Do not be
afraid and do not panic
before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will
neither fail you nor abandon you.” 7 Then Moses called for Joshua, and as all Israel
watched, he said to him, “Be strong and
courageous! For you will lead
these people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors He would give them. You
are the one who will divide it among them as their grants of land. 8 DO NOT BE
AFRAID or DISCOURAGED, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail
you nor abandon you.”
I believe the heart of these
people was already corrupted because they were afraid of “messing up”; but if
you know you do not need to go left because a pothole is in there, you keep
the pothole in mind, and avoid it! So I’m thinking that they were already contemplating
wrong ideas. And because of this mentality is that God who knows it all,
encourage them over and over, and over again to LOVE HIM, and follow His commands
and decrees; because He was already sensing their struggle to walk away. Could it
be because Moses was getting old? It could have been but for this, Moses called
the “young buck” that God had chosen to replace him, and commissioned Joshua
with the work he would do. Then encourage him to be strong and courageous, and
encouraged everyone to not be afraid or discouraged.
Having new leaders in command can
be a stressful thing for both parties; and to ease the transition pains
encouragement is a must. You need people to encourage the new coming party, and
at times a different group of people to encourage the rest of the people who is
receiving the new people in. The Lord’s
greatness is such that HE was able to do the encouragement for both parties,
and at the same time.
As for us, when choose to live to
follow God, we will need encouragers to help us face the challenges of the
change of party, and prevent the pressures of the flesh that would lead us to quit
the new life. Here’s where the local church comes about.
Your local church is leaded by a
man/woman that God had anointed to lead a group of people who are trying to be
like God says to. Here we learn to love
the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind; and this is accomplished by coming
regularly to hear and study the Word of God. The more we study the faster we
will understand and grow in communion with HIM who created us.
Does it mean everyone is already “trained”
and I will be the “newbie”? No, none of us have arrived to perfection; in fact,
none of us will be perfect until we get to see Jesus. But just like in Bible
times, we have to be strong and courageous, as we diligently seek God, because
God has plans for us[2]! Because you know, that leader that God has
anointed to lead you today, tomorrow if the Lord tarries, like Moses, will be
retired and the young generations that follow Him today, by then will be strong
to be commissioned to lead the future church, until the coming of the Lord!
I pray you choose life, by calling
upon the Lord today! If you have not set
your eyes in the Lord as your only Savior & Master, I encourage you to ask
HIM, right now, to forgive you of all your sins; recognize that HE sent JESUS
to die for those sins and accept HIS gift of Salvation. I pray HE creates in
you a steadfast spirit who longs for daily communion with Him in prayer and
study of the Scriptures, and in that hunger, I pray He leads you to the church
HE wants you to congregate on a regular bases to know more about HIM and His
ways. And I pray for His glory in JESUS
name, AMEN!!!
Let me know of your new commitment, and I will rejoice with
you!
No comments:
Post a Comment