Deuteronomy

There’s Always a Choice

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“I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live. And love God, your God, listening obediently to him, firmly embracing him. Oh yes, he is life itself, a long life settled on the soil that God, your God, promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Deut. 30:19-20).

The children of Israel had a choice. They could choose to serve and obey God, or they could follow after the gods of the peoples in the land they were called to occupy.

Both choices had consequences. Choosing to follow Yahweh led to life and blessing, while running after idols led to curses and death. There was no third option with no consequences.

Today, we have a choice. Following God leads to life, and following sin, self, and Satan leads to death. Jesus said that He was the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one could come to the Father and eternal life but through Him.

The good news is that while you’re living, there’s always time to change the road you’re on. No matter what you’ve done in the past, what terrible choices you might have made, what wreck you might have made of your life, you can always come to God, and He will never cast out anyone coming to Him in faith.

Choose today. Choose Jesus.

Thoughts from Deuteronomy

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I heard this from a pastor once: most people have every intention of reading through the Bible. Every intention.

They start off well, because Genesis has a good bit of action and intrigue and drama. Sort of Downton Abbey meets Ben-Hur. You get to see the story of God’s people unfolding and see where everything got its start.

Exodus is doable because it continues the storyline from Genesis. There’s more than a few rules and regulations thrown in, but there’s also the drama of God’s people making their way through the desert.

Leviticus throws most people for a loop. There are a lot more rules and a lot less action. A lot of what’s here seems far from relatable and applicable. I mean, who will be sacrificing a goat any time soon?

Numbers usually is like a punch to the solar plexus and Deuteronomy generally finishes the people off that Numbers didn’t. I mean, it seems so far removed from the mercy and grace of the New Testament.

But think of it as an unfolding love story between God and His people. At first, His people need boundaries and guidelines, as we all do when we’re growing up. We need to know that sin is serious business and that every sin demands a sacrifice and blood.

It’s the same God who shows up later in the form of Jesus. I admit I don’t completely understand how the different parts of the story mesh together, but I know that they do. All the loose ends of the plot get resolved and we do live happily ever after. Just not yet.

I see how Adam and Eve blew it in the garden. I see how the children of Israel messed up with God literally from day one. But instead of looking at the could-have-beens, I see the what-will-be. Where Adam and Eve and the Israelites failed, Jesus got it right and one day soon, everything that went wrong as a result will be put right.

That sounds like a happy ending to me.

My Big Honkin’ Bible

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The following was inspired by what I heard at Kairos tonight. In case you’re wondering, Kairos is a worship event and Bible study that meets every Tuesday at 7 pm at the Connection Center at Brentwood Baptist Church off I-65 exit 71 in Brentwood, Tennessee.

Do I have the Word of God on me or do I have it in me?

There’s a really big difference.

Do I carry around a big honkin’ Bible that looks impressive or do I live it out through my words and deeds?

Do I have God’s Word snugly under my arm or hidden in my heart?

Jesus didn’t overcome the devil’s temptations by braining him with a big Bible. He used the words, “It is written” and used the Scripture he had memorized and ingrained into His life. He used Deuteronomy, to be specific.

I have to be honest. I have a LOT of Bibles. Some are big and leather and good for knocking people upside the head (theologically, not literally). Some are small and portable. I have just about every major translation.

But what I don’t have is God’s Word in my heart. Sure, I have a few verses here and there memorized, but nowhere near enough to say that I KNOW God’s word.

Something that stuck with me was that sometimes you have to BE ready because you won’t have time to GET ready.

In other words, you don’t want to wait until you’re in the middle of a battle to get your sword out. You don’t want to wait until you’re in the midst of spiritual warfare and face with temptation to decide to start committing Scripture to memory.

Hopefully, this won’t be something else I blog about then forget about. I really want to hide God’s Word in my heart.

I remember something a pastor wrote in the first Bible I ever received. “This book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this book.”

I have found that to be very true in the years since.

May you and I start a love affair with the Word of God that lasts both our lifetimes and where we are not conformed to our culture and the world around us, but transformed into people who can help change our culture and the world.