Deuteronomy 30
Choose Life!
Chronological Bible Reading
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” Deuteronomy 30:19&20 NASB
Deuteronomy is not the second Law. It is a repetition of the former law to a new generation of people who were born during the forty years Israel wandered in the desert. In the book of Deuteronomy Israel is very close to entering the Promised Land and Moses is preparing the people for the day when they will leave the wilderness behind and cross the Jordan River going into the land of milk and honey.
Joshua will lead the people into the Promised Land. It is wrong for us to think of the Promised Land as Heaven. The Promised Land is the place where battles are fought. It is the place of transition of the people from wandering; seemingly aimlessly, in the wilderness to the place where they will find their purpose and become fruitful, blessed of God, and a blessing to the world. It is the place where God will lead them and His plan for them will be worked out.
We, as believers, walk a similar path. When we become believers in the Lord we are delivered from the slavery of the world but we face the same struggles the people of Israel did in the desert. We struggle with our commitment and at times want to go back to the old life. We rub elbows with people going through the same struggles we are and find those people difficult. We want to judge them but we want mercy for ourselves. We walk and walk with the Lord but it seems like we are making little progress.
The wilderness is the place where the flesh is put to death. It is the place where we learn mercy and the place where we finally learn to trust in the Lord’s way and not ours. It is the place of preparation for what is to come, very similar to Jacob’s struggle with God before he faced his brother Esau the next day. Genesis 32:22-32. The wilderness is where our will is broken.
Crossing over the river into the Promised Land is like being baptized with the Holy Spirit for ministry to the Christian. It is the place where we surrender our will and are led by the Lord. When we make that transition we start to be victorious in the battles we face. We learn to trust God more and more and ourselves less and less. It is the place where we become fruitful for the Lord bringing glory and honor to Him as He works in us and through us. It is the place where the Glory of God is reflected in our words and actions.
In the verse above Moses said to “choose life.” We choose life when we surrender our will and take up our cross; that which God has planned for us, and totally commit our life to Him. This is our Jordan River.
God has good things in store for us.
May God bless your river crossing.
Pastor Dave