Life and Death, Blessings and Cursings

I don’t know about you but sometimes I have found the Old Testament of the Bible to be more difficult to read than the New Testament. Sometimes it does not seem to be as interesting or applicable to our lives today. But that would be far from the truth. The Old Testament is actually filled with stories about real people like you and me who had feelings, emotions, relationships and hardships. If we take the time to dig a little deeper than the surface and stop to reflect on what is going on between the lines, it is like finding nuggets of gold hidden in the black and white printed words. We might feel like they were people who were heroes and had faith beyond our reach but that would be incorrect. They are ordinary people who were called by God to do extraordinary things. They were murderers, adulterers, cowards, liars, and thieves. But God still used them. And we can learn a lot from their lives.

Sometimes we think following God is too confusing or complicated. But it’s not. This is one of my favorite passages found in the Old Testament.

“ …Obey the Lord your God and keep His commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

See I have 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 you in the land you are entering to possess.

This day I call heaven and 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 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…”   Deuteronomy 30:10-20

Any questions? It is pretty clear, pretty cut and dry. Some people might ask, ‘So even though this is found in the Old Testament, does it still apply to my life today’? Oh yes my friend it does. I will not go into a deep theological explanation or an expository teaching of the New Testament on the matter today.

If you want to read more about God’s specific blessings on your life for obedience or His curses on your life for disobedience, you can find that in Deuteronomy 28. And if you want to read more about receiving prosperity in your life after turning to the Lord, you can find that in Deuteronomy 30:1-10.

It is interesting stuff and totally applies to our lives today. The choice is simple and it is ours for the choosing.

 Life and Death, Blessings and Curses.