An Alternative Choice
D. Davies Deuteronomy 30:15-20 See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil;… The prophet's power to persuade and influence a people is great - unspeakably great; yet it is not irresistible. It has its limits. After all that has been said to him, a man feels that the determination and choice rest within himself. Reason may be convinced; judgment may give a decided verdict; still inclination may inordinately lean to the weaker side, and baffle all prudent calculations. The intense eagerness of Moses for the people's weal is a sublime spectacle of generous devotement - an unparalleled instance of ardent patriotism. Calling up all his powers of persuasive and passionate appeal, he makes a final effort to win the tribes for God. We have here - I. ALTERNATIVE LINES OF CONDUCT. All possible courses of life are reduced to two - one of which every man must take; a third course is excluded. The two are separately described. 1. The course of loyalty is described: (1) By the man's state of heart. "To love the Lord thy God." This determines all that follows - the root out of which all flowers and fruits of obedience spring. This love arises from a right appreciation of God. "He is thy life," yea, the life of thy life. Without him, life is a shadow - a dream - outside showy. "In him we live." "Christ is our life" - the Source of all strength and goodness and joy. This love arises from near relationship. He is our God; he has entered into loving covenant with us - joined forever his interests with ours. (2) By the man's habit of life. He "walks in God's ways." In those ways he finds God. It is the King's highway. He has daily companionship with Jehovah. All his tastes and wishes are gratified. His will is sweetly acquiescent in God's will. He steadily makes advancement in the beauteous life. He does not halt; he walks. (3) By his practical obedience. "He keeps his commandments and his statutes." He keeps them in memory, and has regard to them in every step he takes. They are written upon the tablet of his heart; they shine out in lustrous characters in all his actions. He guards them from the assaults of others. As the stone tablets of the Decalogue were preserved in the ark of the covenant, so in the more capacious ark of a good man's heart, the commandments of God are kept. 2. So, also, the course of disloyalty is portrayed: (1) As a dislike of God. "If thine heart turn away." Through ignorance, or prejudice, or pride, or sensual indulgence, men grow in dislike of God, until his very Name is odious - his presence a very hell. Repugnance to God is the livery they wear. (2) Is wanton deafness. "So that thou wilt not hear." The ear is only an instrument; the effective power comes from a deeper source. We gradually bring ourselves into a condition in which we hear only what we wish to hear. The bulk of men have made themselves deaf to God's voice. (3) Is weak compliance to temptation. Thou "shall be drawn away." The habit of most men is to float with the stream. They yield thoughtlessly to the influence of public example. They do as others do, speak as others dictate. (4) As ignoble service of idols. "And worship other gods." Man must worship somewhat. It is a necessity of his being. He is not self-contained; nor can he be satisfied out of himself. He worships power, wealth, fashion, social fame, fate, the devil. II. ALTERNATIVE EXPERIENCE. 1. The course of loyality secures: (1) All real good. The good is not always apparent - not always immediate. Yet even the experiences of pain and calamity prove ultimately to the obedient soul a real good. The storms of winter are as needful to the best life as the warm breath of spring. All that is wise, pure, excellent, elevating, noble, useful, is to be gained in the pathway of obedience. Every stage accomplished is a new installment of good. (2) It secures increase of numbers. Rapid multiplication was, humanly speaking, Israel's security. By this means, they could outnumber their foes. Through our children, blessing and gladness come. So is it in spiritual things. We taste the highest joy when we become the channels of Christ's life to men. We long to have many genial companions in the road to heaven. (3) It secures Divine blessing. "The Lord thy God shall bless thee." External possessions contain no blessing in themselves. The richest lands - the fairest scenes on earth, are stripped of charm, so long as they are enveloped in absolute darkness. It is the light of God's favor that converts possession into blessing. Hence the little of the righteous is better than the abundance of the wicked. If God's blessing be on our estates, that makes them secure. That blessing is the core and marrow of true prosperity. That blessing alone gives fragrance and gladness to life. This blessing is secured by the oath of God. 2. But the course of disloyalty is marked by the opposite experience. (1) It is an experience of evil. The table may groan under the profusion of dainty food, but there is a scarcity of food for the soul. The body may be pampered, but there is leanness in the spirit. Riches may increase, but they daily corrupt the mind. There may be noisy laughter, but it only covers inner sadness and hidden grief. No sorrow is sanctified. The real man is starved and ruined. (2) There is distressing insecurity. We are rich today; we may be paupers tomorrow. "Ye shall not prolong your days in the land." Apart from God's favor, we have not a day's lease of life - not the certainty that any possession of ours shall continue. We dwell on the verge of a volcano. The earth quivers under our feet. (3) There is a sense of the Divine curse. A life of disloyalty is a life of constant warfare with God - a conflict with Omnipotence. Every plan which impious men make is a plan to elude and defeat God. And they know they cannot permanently succeed. There is a dark pall overhanging every prospect - a night of gloom closing in their little day. The curse of a good man is an awful calamity: what must God's curse include? III. ALTERNATIVE DESTINY. 1. The destiny of the good man is life. This means life in its fullest measure, in its highest form, in its perpetual developments. Gradually all the elements of weakness and pain and decay shall be eliminated. Compared with the future life of the righteous, the present life is but childhood - the feebleness and ignorance of infancy. The life which is promised to the righteous is nothing less than the life of God. "We shall be like him." 2. The destiny of disloyalty is destruction. "Ye shall surely perish." This includes disappointment - the sudden collapse of all earthly hopes. It embraces shame and public reproach. The disloyal will be the laughing-stock of the universe. They shall be covered with confusion. This dark destiny includes poignant remorse. The unrighteous will know, to their deepest grief, that they might have been saved if they would. Such despair baffles all description. IV. INSTANT CHOICE DEMANDED. We cannot do other than admire the condescension of God in pleading so pathetically with men. 1. There is full instruction. "I have set before thee life and death." Every element of needed information is furnished; and personal examination of spiritual facts is expected. Every man is bound to investigate, to ponder, to judge. 2. There is authoritative command. "I command thee." On the side of righteous precept there is supreme authority. Every appeal of God is an appeal to the noblest part of our nature - to conscience. Every solicitation of the tempter is an appeal to appetite and passion. 3. There is tender entreaty. To the activities of wisdom and authority is added the impulse of love. If man's benevolent love prompt him to use all measures to turn the disloyal unto God; how much deeper must be the love of God, of which man's affection is but a faint adumbration! With all the pathos which human sympathy can lend to entreaty Moses pleads, "therefore choose life." 4. Heaven and earth are summoned to hear the solemn charge. Angels note the fidelity of God's prophets. All heaven is interested in man's obedience. The joy of heaven rises to new heights with every accession of loyal subjects. And all the inhabitants of earth are interested in our obedience, whether they feel that interest or not. The future history of this world is in our hands - is being molded by our deeds. What we are today determines what the next generation will be. Each man who hears the heavenly summons makes decision straightway, if not in form, yet in reality. Each man is writing the epitaph for his tomb - preparing his verdict for the last assize! Can we not today forecast our final destiny? - D. Parallel Verses KJV: See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; WEB: Behold, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil;