January 27, 2022
Deuteronomy 32:45-47 NIV
45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
CONSIDER THIS
They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.
As we near the end of this season of First Word—Last Word—God’s Word, and the case is about to go to the proverbial jury (a.k.a. you all), I find myself wondering if I have said enough. Has the case been made? Did I leave anything out?
That’s exactly what’s going on in today’s text. We find ourselves at the end of Israel’s 40 year wandering in the wilderness. They are on the eve of entering the Promised Land. Moses has called all his witnesses. He recounted the full story of God’s faithfulness. He articulated the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience. He rehearsed the full Covenant of the Law with the whole nation. He brought it all down to the most compelling call for a verdict ever recorded. Check it out:
19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Deuteronomy 30:15, 19-20)
And if this were not enough, he wrote a song and led the people in singing it. (Now there’s an idea for us!) After all that, we get today’s text.
Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day. . .
They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.
Permit me a few brief observations.
- The Word of God is not an idle word. It is a powerful and movemental. We turn the Word of God into an idle word in our life to the extent we leave it bound in a book.
- The antidote is to “Take to heart all the words . . . and solemnly declare them to ourselves and each other.”
- The Word of God is not “for” my life. It is my life. See the difference.
Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life. . .
Have you reached a verdict?
THE PRAYER
Yes, Lord, I want to choose life. Over and over and over again I want to choose life and yet it comes back to choosing life in this moment. You, Lord Jesus, are my life. Your Word is my life. I love you, Lord. I listen to your voice. I hold fast to you. And I want this for my children and their children and their children. Holy Spirit, make it so. In Jesus name, Amen.
THE QUESTION
How is the Word of God becoming loosed from the bindings of the book and unleashed in your every day life? Are you learning to solemnly declare it? How is it moving from being “for” your life to being your very life?
*P.S. Awakened Life Course Launching Soon
We are about to launch another cohort of The Awakened Life Course. Dan Wilt will be at the helm. I’ll be helping to lead it, and we will be bringing some All Star Saints to teach and encourage. It begins February 8 and runs four weeks (four Monday nights plus loads of bonus materials). COME ON! Register here. Scholarships available upon request.
For the Awakening,
J.D. Walt
Sower-in-Chief
seedbed.com