"The God Pause Daily Devotional" from The Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States for Monday, 29 August 2016 with Scripture:Deuteronomy 30:15-20

"The God Pause Daily Devotional" from The Luther Seminary in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States for Monday, 29 August 2016
with Scripture:Deuteronomy 30:15-20
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Deuteronomy 30:(RY: iv, LY: vii) 15 “Look! I am presenting you today with, on the one hand, life and good; and on the other, death and evil — 16 in that I am ordering you today to love Adonai your God, to follow his ways, and to obey his mitzvot, regulations and rulings ; for if you do, you will live and increase your numbers; and Adonai your God will bless you in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, if you refuse to listen, if you are drawn away to prostrate yourselves before other gods and serve them; (LY: Maftir) 18 I am announcing to you today that you will certainly perish; you will not live long in the land you are crossing the Yarden to enter and possess.
19 “I call on heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have presented you with life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore, choose life, so that you will live, you and your descendants, 20 loving Adonai your God, paying attention to what he says and clinging to him — for that is the purpose of your life! On this depends the length of time you will live in the land Adonai swore he would give to your ancestors Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov.”[Complete Jewish Bible] 
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Living as I do in our culture, rich with "prosperity gospels," I admit that when I read this text I find myself saying, "Okay God...so if I do everything right, then you will bless me greatly?" Deuteronomy's words here sound a bit suspicious to my Lutheran ears--not quite so rich with a theology of the cross. However, if the Bible is the "cradle that holds Christ," as Martin Luther claimed in his own time, then I am reminded that God's command for us to live godly lives is not solely so that we can enter into the land of Canaan, that was promised to us. Rather we seek to live in godly ways so that others can see the goodness that comes from a life lived with God at the center--rather than a life full of all the false hopes of worldly things that we so often hope for and that we so often cling to.
Giver of life, give us a life of abundance and the courage to accept what this life might actually look like when lived for you. We pray that you might mold us into a godly people—a people of hope and change, rather than a people of hopelessness and destruction. Amen.
Craig Wexler, '10
Pastor, Lutheran Memorial Church, Pierre, SD 
Deuteronomy 30:15 See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.
16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.
17 But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them,
18 I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live,
20 loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.[New Revised Standard Version]
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