“I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.” – Deuteronomy 30:19-20
Last week we looked at what brings us light so that we can see! As the sun brings light to the world so we can see physically, Jesus the Light of the world, enlightens us through His word to have spiritual sight. We are enabled to see our spiritual poverty and our need for a Savior, and also given the light (the word of God) to walk in a way that glorifies God. This week let’s talk about the life that results from being able to see spiritually.
Jesus has come to save us from the penalty of our sin which would condemn us to eternal death; to give us life and that more abundantly1! He fully kept the law of God and then cancelled out “the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us”2 as if they were nailed to the cross with Him. He wants to give us confidence that as a child of God, we are ASSURED salvation because Jesus made the full and satisfying payment3. There is nothing we can do to add to that4; eternal life is a done deal for a child of God. He then seals us with the Holy Spirit5 as the pledge that He has given us eternal life.
Yet, He wants to do even more than this. Daily, Jesus (who the Holy Spirit tells us IS “life”6) wants to have an intimate relationship with us, which involves us looking to Him as our Savior as we share our lives and life experiences with Him. As we move about during our time on earth, He will live His abundant life through us as we exercise our free will and yield to the Holy Spirit (even our choices become acts of worship unto Him as we do this). And it’s all HIM! It’s nothing we do except to surrender and follow in obedience where He leads us.
God told the Jews in the wilderness that to love the Lord, to obey His voice and to hold fast to Him equals choosing life. If you love someone, you talk with them. And I don’t mean talk AT them. I mean, you listen to them speak, you talk and then you listen to them speak again. And not just about the weather or politics or fashion or movies. If you really love someone, you also want to talk with them about the things that matter. To share life with each other. To talk about their fears & triumphs, their struggles & victories, their joys & heartaches to the extent that they are able to. You want to encourage them in the Lord and share their burdens.
This is how the Lord feels about you! He invites you to do this with Him7! Then as you read His word, He brings to your remembrance the things that He wants you to know as it pertains to what you’ve discussed with Him.
He will show you what choosing life means as you listen to His voice. Jesus is the Living Word8 and we come to know Him more by reading the word of God. It is by reading His word that we come to know His character and His voice without ever seeing Him with our eyes or hearing an audible voice.
I love what Paul noticed and mentioned about the Thessalonian church. He said that they, “received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” They were so ready to be in the word and receive the word that the Holy Spirit within them rejoiced. They experienced the divine nature10 as they shared in the Holy Spirit’s joy. Their desire and the Spirit’s desire were one: to receive the word.
This teaches that the knowledge of God through His word and our intimacy with Jesus is critical. To hold fast to my time in the word is to protect my opportunity to hear from Him or sow into my heart things He can bring to my remembrance later. To hold fast to Him is to spend time with the Living Word (each day in all circumstances) as I process life with Him.
To be in the word of God as an act of worship and fellowship with Jesus will bring joy to your heart11 the more you do it. So together let’s choose life as we love the Lord, obeying Him and holding fast to His Word. He’s all in! Are you?
Below are the scriptures I referenced in case you want to go deeper in the word!
1-John 10:10
2- Col 2:14
3-1 John 4:10
4- Ephesians 2:9-10
5- Ephesians 1:13
6- John 14:6
7- John 17:21-23; 2 Peter 1:3-4
8- John 1:1,14
9-1 Thess 1:6
10-2 Peter 1:4
11- Psalm 19:7