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
Living as I do in our culture, rich with "prosperity gospels," I admit that when I read this text I find myself saying, "Okay God...so if I do everything right, then you will bless me greatly?" Deuteronomy's words here sound a bit suspicious to my Lutheran ears—not quite so rich with a theology of the cross. However, if the Bible is the "cradle that holds Christ," as Martin Luther claimed in his own time, then I am reminded that God's command for us to live godly lives is not solely so that we can enter into the land of Canaan, that was promised to us. Rather we seek to live in godly ways so that others can see the goodness that comes from a life lived with God at the center—rather than a life full of all the false hopes of worldly things that we so often hope for and that we so often cling to.
Prayer
Giver of life, give us a life of abundance and the courage to accept what this life might actually look like when lived for you. We pray that you might mold us into a godly people—a people of hope and change, rather than a people of hopelessness and destruction. Amen.