"Verse of the Day"

Through the Bible - Exodus 13-16  , Matthew 19:1-15

 

Good morning,

I don't watch a lot of TV game shows but I must admit that I have watched "Deal or No Deal" a few times.  It's a game where people have a chance to win a million dollars by choosing the right case.  They start out with 26 cases to choose from each with a different dollar amount in it, from $0.01 to $1 million.  At any point the contestant can stop and take the offer that the "bank" makes to buy them out, sometimes for several hundred thousand dollars.  Some try to risk it all, trying to beat the bank and go for the million ending up with next to nothing.

 

Reading through Exodus in the Bible reading plan above recently brought me through the 10 plagues which Pharoah faced.  As we read chapter 11, the Egyptians had faced 9 plagues, 9 miraculous plagues that devastated Egypt and struck at every aspect of the pagan religious system and beliefs.  A couple of times Pharoah had been tempted to accept God's request (through Moses) to let His people go and worship Him and avoid the consequences of another plague.  Pharoah slammed the door on the opportunity, basically saying "no deal".  He was in charge, or so he thought, and he was not going to cave in.  He was going to see it through to the end no matter what.

 

Today's verse comes from Deuteronomy 30 where Moses presented the Israelites with a similar offer.

Deut 30:19 "Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! 20 You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life.   NLT

Or from the NKJV

Deut 30:19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days   NKJV

I like the NLT, "oh that you would choose life".  As mentioned recently, it is a heartfelt cry from God to His people, to choose life, that they would not have to suffer the consequences of  telling God "no deal", I'll face life on my own, or as Frank Sinatra so aptly put it,  I'll do it my way.

 

Think of  the words to that song.  "For what is a man, what has he got, if not himself, then he is not".  It would be better said " what is a man, what has he got, if it's not God, then he has not".

 

I'm sure a lot of people enjoy that song, put themselves into it, thinking, yeah, I'll take my chances and have it my way.  Where will it lead them?  Not to everlasting life, not to contentment, not to peace here or for eternity.  Couldn't you hear Pharoah singing a similar tune?

 

The question comes to each of us, choosing life, a life of loving God and others or choosing to live for ourselves, rejecting God's offer to our own destruction.

 

On Deuteronomy 30:19, John MacArthur writes, "choose life- Moses forces the decision, exhorting Israel on the plains of Moab before God (heaven) and man (earth) to choose by believing in and loving God, the life available through the New Covenant.  Sadly, Israel failed to respond to this call to the right choice.  Choosing life or death was also emphasized by Jesus.  The one who believed in Him had the promise of eternal life, while the person who refused to believe faced eternal death."

 

If you haven't already done so, choose life today.

In Christ,

Mike

 

Deut 30:11-31:1

 

The Choice of Life or Death

 

11 "This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand, and it is not beyond your reach. 12 It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, 'Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?' 13 It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, 'Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?' 14 No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.

 

15 "Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. 16 For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.

 

17 "But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, 18 then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.

 

19 "Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! 20 You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

 

Holy Bible, New Living Translation