Week 9: Choices
Weekly Reading:
Deuteronomy 15 - 34
Opening Prayer
Father God,
You are my strength, my rock, my guiding light in this world. I know that there are choices in front of me, to the left and the right. Sometimes I am bowled over by what I have to choose, and I need Your help, Your guidance. Father, open my mind and heart to what You want me to see regarding choices I need to make every day.
Amen
Study
Choices, we are all given choices daily: what to eat for breakfast, what to wear, which route to take, and what to do in one's day. Also, we have choices to obey or not, to do what is right or wrong.
Due to his impending death, Moses prepared his people to pass leadership to Joshua in his old age. Moses reviews the Lord's commandments again, keeping them fresh in the people's minds (Deuteronomy 29.) Moses is very detailed in reviewing the Ten Commandments and rules for daily life and festivals, how to go into battle, and how to conquer other nations.
Moses is precise on his people's do's and don'ts, what they should and should not be doing according to God's decrees. Moses reviews the repercussions of people's sin, the curses on his people. If you do _____, you will still be blessed. If you do not do _____, you will be cursed. Moses instructed his people to discuss the guidelines daily (Deuteronomy 6:4-9), commit them to memory, create physical reminders of God's policies.
The emphasis is not lost on us, and we hear Moses speak of them often throughout the Torah (the five books of Moses). We understand that God wanted his people to listen to the decrees often to create a habit not to forget.
And then, there is the ability to make moral decisions—the one significant distinction between people and animals, the knowledge of right and wrong. Animals see consequences (if I run in front of the lion, I will get caught) because they are given basic instinct for fear and hunger, feeling tired and needing to rest, and feelings of needing to keep the herd propagating. On the other hand, humans have higher decision-making capabilities of understanding right from wrong, and humans can understand their decisions, including consequences both good and bad.
In Chapter 30 of Deuteronomy, Moses told God's people when they start to see that their blessings flow into curses, this is their chance to return to God and God's commands to restore themselves in God and his promises. God will have mercy and restore his promises (Deuteronomy 30:2-3).
2 and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes[a] and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Dueteronomy 30: 2-3
Then there is the choice between life and death, prosperity and disaster (Deuteronomy 30:15). Moses firmly exposes his desire for the life of his people, for their continued prosperity, for their favor in God. Moses encourages the people he has led for 40 years in the desert, whom he grew to love. Moses' speeches were his last chance to tell his people to follow the right path, to follow God with all their hearts and souls before turning the Israelites over to Joshua.
It all comes down to choice, the choice of the Israelites to follow God their creator or to follow the ways of other nations, the option to follow God and experience a life of prosperity or to sin and experience the life of despair.
We have the same choice: do we follow God and live a life of promise and prosperity of spirit and blessing, or do we choose a different road away from God?
Closing Prayer
Father God,
I chose You today. I want to live to serve You and to live obedient to Your desire in my life. I choose to read Your word to armor myself in Your guiding light. I choose to let go of my sinful desires and follow your light and love. Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Give me the strength to follow Your will and prune what does not glorify You.
Amen
Homework
We all have choices to make. Some are easier than others.
What choices are you struggling with today?
Pray on each choice and ask God to guide you.
Read God's word to see what He wants you to discover.
