This command that I give you today is certainly not too difficult or beyond your reach. It is not in heaven so that you have to ask, “Who will go up to heaven, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?” And it is not across the sea so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?” But the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it. See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity. For I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and multiply, and the Lord your God may bless you in the land you are entering to possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, love the Lord your God, obey Him, and remain faithful to Him. For He is your life… Deuteronomy 30:11-16, 19-20
My words…
Praise
No wonder You chose Moses! The one who whined that he was not articulate enough to lead Your people sure figured out how to preach. His words formed a live-giving, life-saving well that Your people could drink from and live. I drink from that same well when I read his words. It’s an ageless, simple message: Love You. Obey You. And live. I do not have to climb a mountain or sail a sea to know this message. I hear it in my ears, hold it in my heart, obey it in my spirit. It’s very near. It’s a gift You have given to each of Your children – the way to life. And not just any life, but a life infused, enmeshed, enthralled by Your Spirit. Who wouldn’t want that?
Prayer for me
There are times when I take this ageless, simple message and wind a mile-long strand of doubt, guilt, bad theology, unbelief, pride, works, scriptural detail, and tradition around it so that it resembles a millstone. “It can’t be that simple,” I say. And I bind it with all sorts of unnecessary burdens. I think I know why. Long ago, Satan told me that it is very hard to love You, obey You, and live. And, like a fool, I believed him. Not anymore. You’re snipping away at that strand, and the pieces are falling away. I pray You keep snipping.
Forgive me
I recently watched a biblical history TV show about archeological digs in the wilderness where Moses and the Israelites wandered for 40 years. The narrator reported that no archeological evidence has been found of this journey. “How can a group of over a million people camp all around a region and not leave any evidence of their presence?” he asked. Now, I know that their tents and their shoes and their clothes did not wear out. But I began to wonder, myself, why no broken pottery or altars or graves have been found. See what I mean? It’s part of the strand of doubt I wind around Your message. Forgive my doubt. Forgive me for leaping down rabbit holes to find answers. (And forgive all of my disjointed metaphors in this prayer.)
Prayer for others
Today I pray for those who have lost sight of how near Your message of life really is. They search their whole lives to find answers and meaning and insight from star charts, self-help books, professors, and, of course, drugs. Guide them toward Your simple message, and fill their need for answers, meaning, and insight.
More praise
Life is a mix of joy and grief, health and pain, contentment and regret, prosperity and adversity. When I “choose life” (when I chose You), I do not celebrate alone or despair alone. You hang near to see me through the mix. And for that, I give You my best praise.
