“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life that you and your offspring may live. Loving the Lord, your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him for he is your life and length of days that you may dwell in the land to the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob to give them.”
– Deuteronomy 30:19–20
Deuteronomy 30:19–20 are some of the most well-known verses in the Book of Deuteronomy and for good reason. What an invitation from God through Moses, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today. I’ve set before you life and death, blessing and curse. And yes, this was a specific context here. As God’s people prepare to enter into the promise land and they had a choice to make. The reality is you and I have the same choice to make, God sets before you and me, life and death, blessing and curse. And he by his grace calls us, urges us, an even greater way than what we read about here in the Old Testament, by his spirit empowers us to choose life. That we might live, loving the Lord, your God.
God, we want to experience joy and strength in your presence.
Love Him, Obey Him, And Hold Fast To Him
Listen to this. This is life loving the Lord, your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him. For he is your life. What a phrase. He’s your life. God is your life. So love him, obey him, hold fast to him. Let’s just pray that over our day today. Or if you’re listening to this at night over your day tomorrow, or even as you sleep.
So God, we say together by the blood of Jesus, who makes it possible for us to have communion with you to be restored to you. We say today, we choose life. We want to love you with all our heart and soul and mind and strength today, tomorrow. And we want to obey your voice. We want to hold fast to you all day long. All day long we will hold fast to you, God don’t let us let go. Help us to hold fast to you. Even as you hold fast to us for you are our life, you’re our life.
Deuteronomy 30:19–20 Reminds Us That God Is Everything To Us
God you’re our everything. God we say together today, right now you are everything. You’re our life. You’re our joy. You are our strength. You are our hope. Are our wisdom. You are our comfort. Are our happiness. You are our perseverance. God, you are our love and you are our peace and you are our everything. All of these things are found in you. All of these things come from you and we choose them all in you today.
We want to experience all of these things that come from you. We choose you today as our life. God help us to say that, to pray that, to choose you as our life day in and day out and to hold fast to you as our life all day long, all night long. We love you God, we praise you as our life. In Jesus name we pray, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
