SCRIPTURE: Deuteronomy 30
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
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. [Deuteronomy 30:19-20] After describing the consequences of obeying or disobeying God, Moses now explains the possibility of repentance and forgiveness. God will open a way even for the rebellious to return and to be restored to blessing.
God’s forgiveness comes at a price, a price that He pays. He absorbs our sin and our guilt for us. In this way, the link between us, broken by us, is restored by God for us. That link is Jesus. Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ [John 14:6]. The people of Israel would not know this, exactly, but they would know that the way to God was open, even after they sinned. They would always be reminded that there is always a way home, even after we run away. At whatever point of our rebellion, if we choose to listen to His voice and cling to Him by faith, we will be welcome.
Jesus makes it plain that this way, the way for the rebellious, is the only way that we can take. All of us are guilty of disobedience and rebellion, all of us need to come to our senses, admit our sin, guilt and shame, and return to Him with all our humble heart. This is the only way anyone can come to God as Father – even the most ‘righteous’ and ‘obedient’.
There is no way that we could ever earn God’s blessing because of our obedience. Though we were made to enjoy His blessing through obedience, sin now makes it impossible to perfectly obey. The Pharisees failed to understand this. The message of Jesus is that we all need Deuteronomy 30. We all will come to a point where we are in a distant place, and in need of mercy. As long as we make the mistake (like the older brother in the parable of the wayward son) that we deserve or are earning God’s favour, we will miss out on the joy of His love. We are loved despite our failures. We are received because of His mercy. Jesus, Who is the perfect embodiment of that mercy, is the only way, the only truth, the only life. Try as we might, we will not find it anywhere else.
PRAYER:
Lord, I need You to secure eternity, but I also need You to secure my ‘now’. Without You I am nothing; with You I have the way, the truth, the life.
This indeed is a beautiful image of the Father calling us back, the Father offering His children to come back – He will welcome them.
God’s call is this;
Come back, I will restore you
Come back, I will cut away the thick calluses on your heart
Come back, You can make a new start
Come back, return to Me
Come back, choose life
Come back, embrace Me again
Come back, I am Life itself