30:1-3 God has a reputation in the Old Testament for being different, more stern than He is in the New Testament. The truth is that God is equally committed to justice here as He is throughout the Bible. God is equally loving and generous as He is on the first page as He is on the last. He is as strict on the first page as He is on the last. He is serious about ridding the earth and spirit of corruption. He has zero tolerance for evil. He is bold about proclaiming that.
Our God is all-powerful. More powerful than we could ever imagine. He uses that consuming power to overwhelm us with love. Enough love to spill over our cup, shake us, make us weep with joy. That same power is differently utilized against evil. It is enough to shatter a cup of corruption, shake it, make it wail in shame.
Finishing up many verses of caution and warning, we reach a point of proffered redemption and restoration. Because promises that no matter how far from Him we wander, He is always willing to lead us back. We are made in His image, we understand His emotions. He goes from heated disappointment and frustration to calm, forgiving and loving. Because He that is His default: generosity.
30:4 "If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you." God will go to extreme lengths for you. To the edge and back a thousand times. A million times. As many times as it takes to bring you home for good. Does that sound like an angry God? God is gentle throughout the Bible, throughout your life, throughout eternity.
30:5 God will bring you back and He will bless you with everything He promised from the beginning. He will give you a clean slate... and on it He will place a feast of blessing and love. As if you never turned away from Him! He is so empathetic, so forgiving.
30:6 Every time you return back to Him, in love and faith, He will restore you. He will reestablish you, re-outfit you in your spiritual garments. He will personally, perfectly tailor them to your body, your soul, your spirit. He will become your Teacher once again, loving you from the chalk board as He teaches a better way.
30:7 He will restore that sphere of protection around your life once again. Enemies will be thrown own and barred from re-entering.
30:8 As we step further into obedience, we step deeper into faith and blessing.
30:9 God does not just restore your protection and lessons of love... He rebuilds your abilities: He enables you to excel in a way you were unable to before. He will enable you to abound, to increase in production and accomplishments. From a tiny, fruit-less tree you become an oak. Unmovable. Towering. Strong. A fortress of love. He transforms you from being able to only host your individual self... to being able to host a population, a community to an ecosystem, a biome to a biosphere. He enables you to become a host for life and love and opportunity. A home, a haven, a beacon for those around you.
You are a planet. A galaxy. A universe. Through you, God will bring inspiration and miracle. So just stay with Him. No need to stop and restart. Listen to Him and follow Him, become all that He has planned for you.
30:10 With all your heart and all your soul obey. Humans have made the word "obey" into a harsh word. But God's commandments are for us to LOVE. LIVE. LAUGH. EMPATHIZE. God asks us to obey the natural order of love and wisdom and justice. If we follow those guidelines, He promises we will abound in blessing.
30:11-14 God makes this philosophy attainable. We do not need to climb the mountain to find Him, we need to find Him to climb the mountain.
God does not play games with us. He is transparent and helpful at all times. If we cannot swim, He will teach us or He will fly us over the sea. If we cannot fly He will build us a boat. He wants us to hear and to understand. He wants us to choose to come Home to Him. He has gone through great lengths to get our attention, to inspire our love, to keep our commitment.
30:15 Through Moses, God presented the two paths: LIFE and GOOD v. DEATH and EVIL. We want to ensure that our actions fall into the right category, for we want to ensure that we as progressing forward on the right path.
30:16 Moses implores us to love God for He is restoration and order, compassion and wisdom. He is the entity which exponentially increases joy.
30:17-18 God wants you to live and thrive by His love. But a host of corruption will perish; it brings about its own death.
30:19-20 Let's turn these last two verses into a closing prayer, meditate on the love and life that is packed into these words:
19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;
20 that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
Hallelujah, amen.
