Opening illustration: Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Missy Sullivan noted that many user agreements, warranties, and disclaimers that come with products are nearly unreadable. Intentionally set in very small type, they actually discourage people from understanding them. Because of this, many people don’t read all the terms of contracts before signing them. A university professor of graphic communication pointed to a 32-page user agreement that came with his new smartphone, and said of the company, “They don’t want you to read it.”
In contrast, the Lord is always seeking to communicate with His people in clear and compelling ways, with no attempt to confuse or deceive. When Moses spoke to the Israelites just before they entered the Promised Land, he said, “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. . . . I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” (Deuteronomy 30:11, 19).
The Lord wants us to understand His plan and purpose clearly, so that we may love, obey, and cling to Him—for He is our “life and the length of [our] days” (v.20). That’s plain to see. (Illustration from David McCasland, Our Daily Bread)
Let us turn to Deuteronomy 30 and check out the choices the Israelites made … will we want to the same?
Introduction: Now, in attributing much of the decline in our culture to the baby boomer generation, I don't, by any means, intend to suggest that the guilt we bear as a "culture of death" is to be born only by such a small minority. The fact is our common guilt, for what have become our cultural norms, is evident in our isolationist views of the ills of abortion and euthanasia, attacks on life at both ends of the spectrum.
We are faced with choices daily. Some may seem trifling: what to wear, how we will use our time, what to eat. Other choices are significant, having ramifications for the future: schooling and career choices, where we will live, whom we will marry. The existentialist of a generation ago, Jean-Paul Sartre, knew of the importance of decisions made on a daily basis when he said; "We are our choices."
Yet of all the choices with which we are faced, of all the barrage of options set before us, there is none as important as to how we, as created in the image of God, will respond to our Creator. When we sort through the implications of our choices, be they major or minor, how does a relationship with Jesus Christ figure into the equation? There is perhaps no greater choice facing us each and every day of our life than this choice.
How to make the right choices?
1. Choose Obedience over excuses and disobedience to God (vs. 11-16)
All of the great saints who had lived before the time of our Lord had experience God’s mighty power and deliverance because of their faithfulness and obedience to Him. God kept Daniel safe in the lion’s den because he chose to obey God. Esther’s strength and courage comes when she trusted in God for the salvation of her people. Noah and his family were saved because he had found favor in the eyes of the Lord. He was a righteous man and blameless in his generation. Joseph remained faithful to God despite of becoming a slave and prisoner in Egypt and through him; his kindred were saved from the famine. Through Moses, God had performed great miracles and He delivered the Israelites out of Egypt. These are only some of the great saints who wholeheartedly obeyed God and put themselves at God’s disposal, willing and ready to do His will. When people like Cain, Saul, Samson and even the Israelites chose to have excuses to disobey God; they lost it all and did not end pretty well. They went on to become a stumbling block for many who came after them and for some to justify their own disobedience toward God.
“To obey is better than sacrifice.” What an incredible truth this verse is for our day-to-day lives. It supports the verses of Ephesians 2:8-9 which tells us that our salvation is by faith and NOT of works. While God is concerned about what we do with our lives and the fruit that we can produce for the Kingdom from our efforts, He is first and foremost concerned with our obedience. You see, our obedience flows from a heart that is yielded to Him, a life that is surrendered to do HIS will and not OUR will.
Tremendous blessings come as a result of obeying God. Think about what the world would be like if everyone obeyed everything God said in His Word. If we were all fully obeying God all the time, this world would be Heaven on earth! Our obedience would bring love among mankind and justice to everyone.
Illustration: In High School, algebra, geometry and calculus was beyond my reach; it was always too difficult. Try as I might, I could gain only occasional glimpses behind the veil of mystery of axioms and theorems; my stretch was only so far. God is far kinder than trigonometry or calculus. God makes His commands accessible. You don’t need an advanced degree in theology to understand what God says. It is not necessary to spend years of spiritual meditation to break into some celestial plain. The clarity of God’s commands, the clear meaning of the text is what theologians call the perspicuity of Scripture.
2. Choose God above Idols (v. 17-18)
Idolatry is the universal human tendency to value something or someone in a way that hinders the love and trust we owe to God. It is an act of theft from God whereby we use some part of creation in a way that steals from honor due to God. Idolatry conflicts with our putting God alone first in our lives, in what we love and trust (see Exodus 20:3-5; Deut. 5:7-9; Romans 1:21-23). In idolatry we put gift above the GIVER. That thing or person is an idol. The way out of idolatry is always to love and to trust the gift Giver without interference from any gift or anything other than God. We will then be able to love and to appreciate gifts appropriately, neither giving them too much power nor failing to be thankful for them. We will then be free indeed, and not in bondage or addiction to anything that cannot fulfill us or give us peace (shalom).
Putting God first means loving and trusting God first, above all, and with everything we are and have. God has given us every good thing we are and have. (Neither we nor other humans created us or our capacities to do good.) Our focus should never be on the gifts themselves in a way that demotes the gift Giver. This would be idolatry. It is easy to see how idolatry occurs given our deadly propensity for selfishly willful control and self-controlled security. The gifts themselves are easy to control, to manipulate, and to take credit for. They are easy to make, or to take as, "mine." Here begins the human tragedy, the idolatrous rebellion against the God we need for living freely in unselfish love. We learn the hard way that we cannot provide ourselves with security and safety. On our own we lack the needed power of unselfish love. On our own we wither in selfishness and then die.
God also reminds us that He will not be a partner in wrongdoing. When you get into that part of town you're on your own. God will have no part of it. In fact I would advise you to take a pretty sturdy umbrella—like one that can withstand fire and brimstone. The vital question is: What are you going to choose? Are you faithfully willing to stick by God (if you choose Him) no matter what!
3. Choose life and blessings over death and curses (v. 19)
This is not the choice between ice cream or cake for dessert, nor even whether to marry or not. This choice deals with the universal desire, the common thread of human existence, yet so many seem to embrace death and destruction. This is a choice involving life and death. What is more important than this? All choices fade away; they’re frivolous when eternity is before us. What we do, where we work, whom we marry palls in comparison to this, the choice is between life and death, between prosperity and destruction.
Early in my Christian life someone told me, "God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you far too much to leave you that way." I've lived on both sides of the fence, but the day I chose Christ I chose life. I renew that choice every day of my life. I'll take God's side any day. God is not talking about suffering and pain verses perpetual health and laughter. He is talking about the quality of life—having something worth living and dying for. Your choices not only affect your life; they also affect the lives of those who follow after you. Have you ever asked yourself, "Who am I influencing? Who is following in my footprints?" Is that a good feeling, or does it scare the pants off you? It ought to make all of us think.
Illustration: As a young kid who spoke of the uselessness of life. While at camp, he went on and on about wanting to die until one day his counselor said, "Come on, let's go. If you want to die I'll help you die" … Moses said, "I set before you life and death." If we don't know how to choose life, then we choose death by matter of default. We choose death when we dismiss God's Word as normative for our life. We choose death when we desire nothing more than getting what we want when we want it, regardless of what God wants for our life. We choose death when we say that God's will takes precedence over all else, but then live like God doesn't even exist.
But if the choice is so easy, if God’s Word is so close, why then is there disobedience? Why do people make the wrong choice? If it is important and easy, why would anyone make the wrong choice? This is a question not only for those who do not know Christ, but for us who claim to have accepted the Covenant choice but still fail to obey. Remember, because it is a clear choice, that does not mean we’ll easily obey. Because we may agree to the right choice, that does not mean we have either the ability to obey or even the will to try. God calls us to make a choice. There is no middle ground. Not choosing is just as wrong as choosing wrongly. To stand in the middle is to choose death. William James once said: "When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a choice." Moses wanted the Israelites to understand that the choice for life was a choice that they would have to make every moment of their lives.
4. Choose to Love God above everything else (v. 20)
Moses wanted them to understand that the choice was not a one and done kind of decision. It is a decision to keep on choosing. Our belief carries us to the cross of Christ and the empty tomb that becomes the emblem of God’s saving grace for us, the call to call to love God, to listen to God’s voice, and to hold fast to God are acts that carry us to God’s feet over and over and over again. We do not love God for a fleeting moment and move on. The love of God in this passage is used as a verb not a noun, not a description of an emotion, but an action word that defines a nature of a relationship with God. The call to listen to God is not describing a moment when God speaks and we hear, but a lifetime of moments when we listen for and hear God’s voice for our lives. The invitation to hold fast to God – to cling to God - is not an embrace in times of crisis, but a choice to hold on with everything you have - all the time – never letting go, never wanting to be separated from the presence of God. Moses wanted them to understand that the choice for loving God over other things in life was a choice that they would have to make every moment of their lives.
Illustration: During WW II, Winston Churchill was forced to make a painful choice. The British secret service had broken the Nazi code and informed Churchill the Germans were going to bomb Coventry. He had two alternatives: (i) evacuate the citizens and save hundreds of lives at the expense of indicating to the Germans that the code was broken; or (ii) take no action, which would kill hundreds but keep the information flowing and possibly save many more lives. Churchill had to choose and followed the second course.
The choice of sacrifice was deemed necessary. Some may die, so that others can live. That is the very point of our passage here in Deuteronomy as well in Romans. God chose the death of His one and only Son so that we would be declared perfect, based not on our own record, but on having our sins atoned for by Christ’s death on the Cross so that we might also be credited as righteous due to Christ’s perfect obedience for us.
Now the choice is before you. Because of Christ’s death, God who is your life will empower you to choose life. God chose the death of His Son so that He might enable you to choose life. How will you respond?
Application: As we wind down this passage, Moses wants Israel to know that their decision to cross the Jordan River and obey God is crucial. They have buried the majority of the previous generation because they failed to do what they should have done. They know it is too late for those who have died in the wilderness. They are practically standing over their corpses as Moses speaks his final words to them. Moses doesn’t want them to make the same mistakes their parents made. What about you? I would never want to see any of you making wrong choices … it breaks God’s heart …
If you decide not to choose, you’ve already made the wrong choice.
