We have done a few devotions recently from the book of Deuteronomy. Here’s Moses speaking again to the next generation nation of Israel, about to enter the Promised Land.

“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 set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, 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.

But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

This day I call the heavens and the 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, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” (Deut 30 :11 – 20).

God’s Word is never far away. If you are a follower of Jesus, like me, the Scriptures are within easy reach. We have Bibles on our shelves, worship songs on our phones that remind us of the God’s truths, and endless opportunities to hear sermons or podcasts online.

However, we can’t just assume his word is in our hearts or in our mouths. We must invite God’s law, his stories, his instructions and principles, his encouragements into our souls, beyond the intellectual, beyond information level to affect our choices and our will. We must allow it to make us uncomfortable so that we change. We must speak it to our innermost beings.

Moses set before the people a decision. Life or death. Life meant loving him, walking in obedience to him and keeping his commands. Death meant choosing other gods and losing out on everything the Lord wanted to give them. Choose life.

The same speech could be given to us today. We have received new life and the forgiveness of sins through faith in Christ’s death on the cross. But life is still full of decisions, with consequences. Will we invite the Lord’s word to challenge us and mould us? Will we love him first or will we drift to the gods of this age and miss out?

Choose life.