Two ways to live!

A good title for Moses’ last sermon would be “Two Ways to Live.” Moses says, “You are about to enter the Promised Land.” Moses is not going with them. He is going to be with the Lord. “As you enter the land, remember that there are two ways to live.”

Moses lists the blessings that will follow obedience, “If you fully obey the Lord your God… you will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country, the fruit of your womb will be blessed and the crops of your land…” (28:1,3). He is talking about the future life of the nation.

Then Moses lists the curses that follow disobedience, “If you do not obey the Lord your God… you will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. Your basket and kneading trough will be cursed” (28:15-16).

How do you live in the reality of this life, where you look at your own life and say “Is that still there?” I don’t know what progress I have made in the Christian life. I know that I am not what I used to be and I know that I’m not yet what I hope to be.

Right now, the work of the Holy Spirit is woven into all our battles with the flesh. But I know this, “When He appears, we shall be like Him” (1 John 3:2). Remember this in the middle of all your struggles with sin.

Faith bows before the mystery of what God has kept secret, and stands in the strength of what God has revealed. When Christ says, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34), He is staring into the mystery of what God has kept secret.

What is Christ doing when he says, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46)? He is trusting in the promise of what God has revealed, and that is what He is calling us to do. He is going to walk with us as we trust in what God has revealed.

The secret things belong to the Lord, so trust Him in what you do not know. The revealed things belong to us, so obey Him in what He has made known. They are yours! They are given to you, to help you stand today and this week.

Put yourself in the shoes of these people. You are about to enter the Promised Land, and Moses says, “My final message to you is this: There are two ways to live. There is a path on which the nation will be blessed. There is a path on which the nation will be cursed.”

You are standing there with your children round you. Here is what I would be thinking. It is what we would all be thinking, “Moses, which one is it going to be? What will be the experience of our children and our grandchildren? What kind of world are they going to inherit? What can we expect in the next ten years? What does the future hold?”

Moses says:

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law” (29:29).

I’ve chosen to focus on this single verse today because it has been so significant in my own life. The reference is easy to remember, “Deuteronomy 29:29.” It sticks!

The truth is stated so simply, “The secret things belong to the Lord. The things revealed belong to us.” The whole of life is divided into two parts. There are things God has kept secret, that you do not know and you do not understand, and things that God has revealed, that he has entrusted to you.