Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (MSG) 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.
Observation
I know that God is All-Wise, All-Knowing, perfect in every way, incapable of making an error, and never blind-sided or surprised by unforeseen twists and turns, but at times like this, I wonder if He didn’t regret making us human. He’s our Creator, so He could have chosen to make us something more consistent/less fickle, less driven by emotions and passions, not so free to make all of our own choices – in other words, a less aggravating and worrisome child, one who listens and learns from experience. Instead, He gave us free wills, completely in charge of the choices we make, good or bad, beneficial or harmful, wise or foolish.
As I reach the end of Deuteronomy (the “again I say unto you” of the First 5 books), Father God is saying that He has demonstrated to this people over and over again His commitment to them and proven His ability to deliver what He has promised. This same offer (choosing between life and death) is before me today and what I receive is based on the choices I make. Just as these people have experienced His faithfulness, His miraculous deliverance, His power, His protection, His promises fulfilled, so have I. The choice is theirs as well as mine today – to choose life or death by whom they/I choose to trust and serve. I pray that I will be better at obedience than they were.
Impact on Me
Each time I come again to repent for some bad choice (trusting more in what the world or I can do than in Him), I often ask why He made me human. Like Paul in Romans 7, I struggle even with following through when I do make good choices:
Romans 7:21-25 PHILLIPS When I come up against the Law I want to do good, but in practice I do evil. My conscious mind whole-heartedly endorses the Law, yet I observe an entirely different principle at work in my nature. This is in continual conflict with my conscious attitude, and makes me an unwilling prisoner to the law of sin and death. In my mind I am God’s willing servant, but in my own nature I am bound fast, as I say, to the law of sin and death. It is an agonising situation, and who on earth can set me free from the clutches of my sinful nature? I thank God there is a way out through Jesus Christ our Lord.
It is then that the still small voice reminds me that He made me human so I would need Him, so that my heart would ache passionately over my unfaithfulness in response to His perfect love, grace and mercy, that I would repent and return and, in His embrace, provide an opportunity for Him to pour out His love for me once again. What an amazing love, what a wondrous God we serve!
Prayer
Dear, dear Jesus, what a wonder You are. You suffered and died so I would have a choice and the Holy Spirit power to sustain it. I thank You that You give grace along with forgiveness, second chances with repentance, encouragement with conviction, and stick with me when I fail again and again. Work in me Your holiness, Your peace, Your wisdom so I may consistently choose to live in Your life and blessing. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Pressing On In His Footsteps 