Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (NRSV)
Read Deuteronomy 30:15-20 on biblegateway.com
Verse 15See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. Verse 16If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. Verse 17But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, Verse 18I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. Verse 19I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, Verse 20loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Devotion
Every day we have countless choices to make. Some choices are small: what to eat, where to go, what to wear. Some choices are not so small: Accept the promotion if it means extended trips away from your family? Move your ailing mother to a nursing home or shoulder the caregiving burden yourself? Make your teenager go to church or just skip it to forgo the argument it always brings?
The blessing and the curse of human freedom is that God lets us make our own choices. Yet that doesn't mean God doesn't care about the choices we make. Our lives matter to God. It doesn't mean God isn't there to guide us as we choose. God speaks through prayer, through scripture, through others.
The plea of Moses to the Israelites is the plea God makes to us: Choose life. Choose to turn to God, to put your trust in God, to give your heart to God. That is where you will find peace, and comfort, and hope.
Prayer
Help us choose wisely, that the way we spend our days may give us life in you. Amen.