Saturday April 14, 2012

Read Deuteronomy 11:26-32

 

What we’ve talked about all week is expressly laid out before us at the end of chapter 11.

Verses 26 and 27 starkly outline that choice.

See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse— ²⁷ the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; ²⁸ the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.

 

To really understand the implications before us, think of yourself standing before God watching a video of your entire life. As you watch that video, what will it reveal about the choices you have made throughout your life? Will that video show that you sought the glory of the Lord and laboured for His kingdom or will it show that God’s agenda was subordinate to your own pleasures and desires? Will it show that God came first in your life or that your desires and own pleasures came first?

When you put it like that, it’s a very clear choice isn’t it? Unfortunately, our lives are unnecessarily complicated and messy because we continue to make choices that feed our sinful nature. God will allow the consequences of such choices and our relationship with God will continue to stagnate and possibly even decline as we make such choices. A 300kg man appeared on the internet recently, pleading for help in losing weight.  What he had to do, among other things, was to exercise, stop eating junk food and start eating good food. Spiritually, things are no different. If you want to change, start feeding yourself good spiritual food - namely the Word of God. Take radical steps to remove the bad food you are feeding yourself. Start exercising spiritually. Put your faith into action, slowly at first but increasing as your faith muscles grow.

 

As we’ve said all week, God has given you a choice. God has given you a mind to make  a choice. It can be a good choice or a bad choice. You choose.

 

Prayer:

¥ Our brothers and sisters in China and Vietnam continue to face daily choices that lead to economic deprivation, arrest and fines and/or imprisonment. These choices are based around whether or not to share Jesus with family and friends. Pray that they would make wise choices in the strength of the Lord and that they would be courageous to make choices that please God and grow His kingdom.

¥ Pray for the believers in Iraq and Iran. Intense persecution is making life extremely difficult for them. Pray that God would bring peace to their hearts, stability to their lives and the ability to walk onward in Christ day by day. Pray that God would comfort greatly those who have lost loved ones because of their stance in Christ.