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
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today. Moses' words are a sobering thought if ever there was one. The more I think on them and the more I look at the world around me, the more true I consider them to be. There are no better witnesses than heaven and earth if we want to see the ways that we continually choose death and curses. With every mine that spoils a wilderness, every lake poisoned by golf course fertilizer, we proclaim that we serve gods other than the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As Jesus reminds us in the gospels, God knows every sparrow that meets its death on a windmill blade. As Paul reminds us in Romans, all of creation cries out for salvation. Our treatment of creation is a mirror and a reminder of how much we need God to continue to make all things new, as was God's promise to Israel through the prophet Isaiah, to John on the island of Patmos, and to us all through the resurrection of Christ Jesus.
Prayer
God whose eye is on the sparrow and who makes the grass to grow, you cause your sun to shine on us and your rain to fall on us, even though we mistreat the world you have made. Give us eyes to see your care for creation and hearts to care for it ourselves. Amen.