Proper 18 C - Deuteronomy 30:15-20
If it were as simple as choosing between life and
death, prosperity and adversity we’d all be “living large.” But to choose life
and prosperity is to choose obedience and that is the deal breaker. The
children of Israel about to enter the land will all voice their choice for life
and promise to obey, (Joshua 1) but God knows better and has already predicted
the inevitable. “…these people will soon prostitute themselves to foreign
gods... they will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them.” (Deut.
31:16) So why make the offer if you know the people won’t be able to afford the
payments? I think there must be an eternal optimism in the heart of God, an
undying hope; or maybe it is just the unconditional commitment of a tough love
parent who is willing to suffer silently while waiting for the day when
adversity brought about by disobedience will bring the rebellious child back to
the bargaining table. “Come let us reason together, says the Lord, though your
sins be scarlet they shall be white as snow.” (Isaiah 1:18) Of course even that
turns out to be a temporary fix for fickle creatures who are not inclined to
obey anyone save their own self-interest. So when the options were exhausted
God sat down at the table and chose death so that the calamity visited upon the
Christ might be our prosperity. How can you say no to such a thing? Choose life
this day for God has already taken death off the table.
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