Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
Dear Fellow Children of God,
This past month I drove with some friends to New England. Choosing to trust and follow our GPS, we found our way to hotels, restaurants, and many interesting sites. However, one day while headed to downtown Boston … in the rain … at rush hour … we didn’t like the directions we received. We chose instead to ignore the GPS and find our own way. We were sure we knew a better way … until we got terribly lost. Following our own way, we ended up further and further from our destination. We decided to return to the GPS. Eventually, it got us back on track to a nice little Italian place in Boston’s North End.
As Moses was preparing the Israelites to enter the Promised Land, he relayed God’s Word to them about the direction they should follow. Moses, by the power of the Holy Spirit, had led Israel through the desert to the Promised Land. He knew he wouldn’t be joining them though, so he gave them some direction on the way they should go. He said, “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God … you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.” (Deuteronomy 30:15-16) However, Moses also warned the Israelites saying, “But, if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, … you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.” (Deuteronomy 30:17-18) The Israelites didn’t have GPS, but they did have very clear guidance from God on how to get to where they wanted to be … follow God and His Word. If they chose their own direction, they would get hopelessly lost and perish.
Of course, God did not want His people to get lost and perish so He inspired Moses to add to the end of his guidance, “Therefore choose life … (by) loving the Lord your God, obeying His voice and holding fast to Him.” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20)
Unfortunately, the Israelites didn’t like the directions God was giving them. They chose to follow the directions of the Canaanites and others … they ended up hopelessly lost, evicted from the Promised Land into exile … some scattered throughout Assyria … others carted away to Babylon. Still God so loved His people that He continued giving them directions to find their way back to Him.
God’s Word to Israel over 3400 years ago, still applies to us today. God longs for us to “choose life” … by loving Him, obeying His voice found in His Word, and holding fast to Him in regular worship, prayer, and study of His Word. And thankfully, when we decide to follow our own way, instead of His way … God our Father calls us back to Himself through the Holy Spirit. Then, as we return to Him, because of the death and resurrection of His Son, He forgives us and leads us back to life with Him, now and in eternity.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Jim