November 7, 2013
CHOOSE LIFE IN CHRIST
Deuteronomy 30
Charlie Kaye
Central Truth
The path of obedience leads to life and prosperity. The path of disobedience leads to death and destruction. God desires for you to choose life, to choose Him.
Key Verse | Deuteronomy 30:19
"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." (Deuteronomy 30:19)
Deuteronomy 30
Repentance and Forgiveness
1 And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you, 2 and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. 4 If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. 5 And the LORD your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. 7 And the LORD your God will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you. 8 And you shall again obey the voice of the LORD and keep all his commandments that I command you today. 9 The LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10 when you obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
The Choice of Life and Death
11 For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
15 See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God 1 30:16 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, 2 30:16 Or his just decrees then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
Dive Deeper | Deuteronomy 30
God's plan blows me away sometimes. I often do not even realize it, but looking back, He has been undeniably faithful to me, showing me where life truly exists. For many years, I tried to disobey Him by searching for life in things OTHER THAN God. But it never really worked out for me.
In Deuteronomy 30, God uses Moses to illustrate His desire and longing for the Israelites to prosper in their work and their land by turning to God with all of their hearts and all of their souls out of an act of obedience to His commands. (verses 2 and 10) He makes that same call to you and me! He wants us to do well, but He also wants change. He wants us to stop trying to find life outside of Him and to obey His commands. When we do this, He promises great things!
God is faithful. He assures us that no matter how far we venture away from Him, even "at the ends of the earth, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back." (Deuteronomy 30:4) Sometimes, we need to realize our condition, so that we can understand the life found in God.
The crazy thing is that finding life in our Creator is not unobtainable! What God is commanding us is not up in heaven, not across the sea, and not too difficult or beyond our reach. It is right here in His Word, very near to us, in our mouth and in our heart, obtainable so that we may obey it. (verses 11-14)
Sometimes, it is difficult to realize that our search for life is in dead things. But once we recognize this and choose to recenter our life around THE LIFE, we can hold the things of this world loosely and experience God to the fullest.
He is the way. He is the truth. He is the LIFE. (John 14:6)
Are you truly living?
Discussion Questions
1. Where do you consider there to be life found outside of God?
2. Why do you choose __________ over God and His commands?
3. How do you begin to allow God to reign in that area? How do you refocus and reorganize your search for life?