Let us go back into the Old Testament, to Deuteronomy 30. I want to begin here, because this is a series of verses of very solemn significance. I want to bring this up in regard to Passover, because I want to impress on each and every one of us that properly keeping Passover is a matter of no small importance. (Hang on to that!)
Now, think of this in terms of Passover. You, obviously, are familiar with these verses; and you understand that God is going to ask us to choose. Then He is going to command us to choose. And He is going to command us to choose what is right and good. If we do that, we live. If we choose the other, we die. So, how important is Passover? Think of it in these terms.
What is the Bible's definition of love? It is the keeping of the commands of God. We express love to God, and to our fellow man, by keeping the commands of God.
The implication is already that if we choose not to love God (by keeping His commands) then we are choosing to die.
Now, think of that in human terms. Don't you love to bless those who love you? Sure you do. That's the way to life, God is saying. You love Me; and I will bless you, - because He loves to bless those who love Him.
Again, think of that in terms of Passover. Where is our life? I told you, just a few minutes before, that eternal life (which is what the Bible, most of the time, has in mind) begins with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He was our Passover, the Lamb of God. That is where eternal life begins.
Are we going to choose to continue to follow through memorializing that event? Well, we will go on. There is no way that I can diminish the importance of Passover to us, when we begin to look at it in this regard. It is a matter of life and death. Think of it in these terms.
What if Israel (prior to the going out, prior to the death angel going over) decided to choose not to follow God's commands regarding the Passover? What would have been the result? They would have died! It is that simple. Keeping Passover correctly is a matter of life and death.
Now, obviously, there are some things in regards to keeping Passover that are more important than others. But considered as a whole, the keeping of Passover correctly has to be done - if we are going to live!
That takes cooperation on our part - because God has given us free moral agency. So we have to choose. (Back to Deuteronomy 30 again.) And life becomes a matter of choices that, by faith, we will ourselves to submit to the rule - to the government - of God. So our response has to be loving obedience. We should be able to do this. In fact, the apostle John said:
The word train in that verse means, “to narrow in” or “to hedge in” or “to limit.” This is what we do as parents—we don’t give our children every option. We limit their choices. God, as the perfect Father, hedges us in. He puts a hedge on either side of us to help direct our course. Jesus even calls this way of life “the narrow way.” We can begin to see that God limits us by narrowing our options. We still have free will, and we must still make the choices, but because of the hedge that God provides, we don’t have as many options as we otherwise might if we were still in this world.
In Deuteronomy 30:15-19, God says that He sets before us life and death, blessing and cursing, and so on. God sets the options before us, and we choose. The options in this case are very broad and far-reaching. On one hand, there is life, good, and blessing; on the other hand, there is death, evil, and cursing. God even counsels us which choice to make—but He leaves the choice to us.
That passage in Deuteronomy 30 links obedience to God’s laws and instructions with choosing life and blessing. “Choosing life” is not a decision that one makes at a single point in time, such as baptism, but rather it is the overall direction and approach, as well as the specific decisions we make at each turn. It is a continual choice.
Like God says here, it is not hard to understand at all. The instruction, the very Word of God is near, right within us.
Of course, we must constantly choose life and good and blessing. But we must always remember that He is your life and the length of your days.
He is our faithful tabernacle. Our true home and companion, hopefully for all of us, for all eternity.
