Discover His heart: He offers us the choice between life and death
When my grandparents left their homeland of Italy in the early 1900s as single young people, I’m reasonably sure they were not thinking about me, their other grandchildren and their great-grandchildren. Nevertheless, I have a feeling the potential of our existence was somewhere in the mix of their decision-making process for the future. They were seeking greater freedoms and opportunities to provide a future for themselves and for the family they would one day have. Whether we realize it or not, our decisions profoundly impact future generations.
@ Deuteronomy 29
“By entering into the covenant today, he will establish you as his people and confirm that he is your God, just as he promised you and as he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ‘But you are not the only ones with whom I am making this covenant with its curses. I am making this covenant both with you who stand here today in the presence of the Lord our God, and also with the future generations who are not standing here today.’” (13-15) By choosing to enter into the covenant with God, the Israelites would change everything for future generations as did God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
@ Deuteronomy 30
This was the choice that was put before them, “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways…But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed.” (15-18)
The Israelites could never say that they didn’t understand the terms of the agreement with God when they decided years later to worship other gods. With God, there are no gray areas today either, “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) A choice between life and death!
The Israelites’ broken covenant has affected the lives of the many generations ever since. In the process, they missed Him, the One they had been waiting to deliver them. They missed Him. And our choices may well affect the lives of generations to come should the Lord tarry. When we break our covenant with God or with our spouse and family, the ramifications are endless. I know this because I have spent a great deal of time over the years counseling the youth from broken covenants.
Today God offers this same choice to us, “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life.” (19-20) The key to life is not all the substitutes we often choose. No, this, my friends, is the key to your life!
Moving Forward: I can’t help but repeat it, “Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!”
Tomorrow @ Esther 1-5
Phyllis Benigas 