Lenten Daily Reflection 2021-02-18
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Deuteronomy 30.15-20
See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
As I read through this passage, I kept thinking about the choices that I make on a daily basis. My choices – big and small – have consequences. I heard from a friend in AA that you are either moving closer to a drink or further from a drink. There really is no middle ground he explained because if you do not make a choice toward sobriety you are really moving closer to a drink. I kept thinking about that as I read through these verses in Deuteronomy. The choices I make in life will bring me closer to God or drive a wedge between God and me. It is pretty easy for me to identify where a choice will take me – closer or further from God. The hard part for me is making the right choice. Sometimes I do, sometimes I do not. I strive to make more right choices in life that bring me closer to God rather than those choices that move me further from God. I am reminded often and especially in this season of Lent that I am perfectly imperfect. I am also reminded that it is both my “right choices” and my imperfections, my sins, that draw me closer to God as I pray for forgiveness knowing that Christ died for my – our - imperfections and sins so that we may have eternal life.