“See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless the land you are entering to possess.” -Deuteronomy 30:15-16.
Moses is speaking to the Israelites as God’s mouth-piece (or prophet). Imagine for a moment that you were one of them: What would you do? I know that most of us, if not all of us, in our right mind would prefer life and prosperity over death and destruction. In other words, no one will choose death and destruction, yet many peoples even today suffer death and destruction. I pray that death and destruction is not your portion, in Jesus’ name!
Deuteronomy 30:15-16 helps us understand that life and prosperity, and, death and destruction are rather by-products or results of the choice we make. Life and prosperity result from the choice to love the Lord our God but death and destruction from the choice to reject God. It is important to understand that loving God is demonstrated in the desire to walk in his ways and obey his commands. Hence Jesus says to his disciples, “if you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 15:15) Love is an active verb, indeed.
I thank God for the revelation embodied in the passage. The more I read it, the more I realize that life and prosperity are like the two sides of a coin, as it were: You cannot have one without the other. The same is true about death and destruction. Where life is, there prosperity is found. And, where death is there destruction is found. Moreover, prosperity and increase mean the same thing -hence Moses says, “then you will live and increase”.
Finally, the passage reveals more. See, unless the land is blessed by God life and prosperity will remain wishful thinking. The blessing of God on the land creates the right condition for life and prosperity. Note that Moses is not exhorting the Israelites to seek God’s blessing on the land, but to love God instead and God will bless the land.
Lord grant me the grace to love you with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my strength, In Jesus’ name!
