If you will obey the commandments you will have everything
you need and everything you want. If, however, you turn and worship other gods,
you will not receive God's blessing and you will have nothing. Sounds like a
plan then. Moses is giving them lessons
in Following God for Dummies. The entire
book of Deuteronomy is cast in just this light, one to one correspondence with
obedience and blessing, right up to the choice between life and death in
Deuteronomy 30. Here, Moses goes back to
his earlier injunction in the sixth chapter to tell them that their best bet is
to keep the commandments ever before them literally by binding it on their
bodies in order that they cannot forget and talking about the Law constantly in
order that nothing else might overtake it in their thoughts. Paul gives similar advice to the Philippians,
"whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is
pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence,
if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." We have many distractions in this world but
we have exactly the number we allow, not one more or less.
When was the last time you rebuked a brother or sister who
sinned against you? That is Jesus'
commandment, to rebuke sin, but we tend to talk to everyone but the person who
sinned against us about our injury. The
goal is clear, that the person may repent by having the sin laid before
them. Forgiveness is contingent on
repentance but if it happens, we are bound to forgive, a godlike quality. Even if it happens seven times in a day. Why was the disciples response to this
teaching to ask for more faith? It
requires faith to forgive to be more Christ-like. Finally, Jesus tells a little parable of
worthiness, remembering who we are, servants of God. We have but a little while to serve Him here
and our lives are to be taken up by this service. We are to walk humbly before our God knowing
that one day we will eat with Him in the wedding feast of the Lamb.
We know that Jesus died for us that we might no longer live
to or for ourselves but for Him. We sing
all for Jesus but where is there evidence of that in our lives? All?
You are a new creation, the old has passed away and you now live with
the Spirit of the living God within you, you have been set free from the spirit
of sin and death. In all this we are
reconciled to God through Jesus taking on our sin, and we taking on His
righteousness. We are at peace with God,
a peace broken not by Him but by our sin.
He did all the work of reconciliation that we might become agents of
reconciliation. It begins with being
reconciled with one another, forgiving one another. Jesus death has given us the faith the
disciples asked for in the Gospel lesson.
Will we choose life today?
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