NO MIDDLE GROUND

Can I pray for you in any way?

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Love the Lord your God and keep His requirements, His decrees, His laws, and His commands always. Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God: His majesty, His mighty hand, His outstretched arm; the signs He performed and the things He did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and to his whole country; what He did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots, how He overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord brought lasting ruin on them. It was not your children who saw what He did for you in the desert until you arrived at this place, and what He did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth right in the middle of all Israel and swallowed them up with their households, their tents, and every living thing that belonged to them. But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done.”

“Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, and so that you may live long in the land that the Lord swore to your forefathers to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed, and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from Heaven. It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.”

“So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today - to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul - then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.”

“Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord's anger will burn against you, and He will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you. Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.”

“If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow - to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to hold fast to him - then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you. Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the western sea. No man will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as He promised you, will put the terror and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.”

“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse - the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known. When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim the blessings, and on Mount Ebal, the curses. As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan, west of the road, toward the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh, in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal. You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you have taken it over and are living there, be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.”

Deuteronomy 11

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I believe there are three categories of people today:

1. Those who believe in the Lord and conscientiously strive daily to obey His commands, Word, and will.

2. Those who refuse to believe in the Lord and have no interest in following His commands, Word, and will.

3. Those who live in between, those who say they believe in the Lord but want to choose when they live in obedience and when they don’t.

When we look at the Old Testament and the history of the Israelites, we see where they too often fell into Category 3 and this is why so much God invested so much time and effort instructing them in the matter of being obedient to Him.

As we move to Deuteronomy, chapter 11 today, we find Moses once again discussing the matter of compliance with the people of Israel, reminding them that their success in Canaan would largely rely on how well they kept the Lord’s requirements, decrees, laws, and commands. If they conformed to the Lord’s expectations, then He would ensure they had “the strength to go in and take over the land (they were) crossing the Jordan to possess…”so that (they could) live long in the land” which God had sworn “to (their) forefathers…a land flowing with milk and honey.”

This promised land would remain bountiful for the Israelites as long as they “faithfully obey(ed) the commands” that Moses gave them which included “to love the Lord…and…serve him with all (their) heart and…soul”. Doing this would result in “rain on (the) land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that (Israel could) gather in (their) grain, new wine and oil”. Further, grass would be provided “in the fields for (the) cattle and (Israel would) eat and be satisfied”.

The bottom line here was that life would be very good for the people of God if they would just submit to everything He demanded.

But what if they chose to do otherwise?

Going back to the scriptures today, we find Moses answering that question, warning the Israelites to “be careful” as they entered a land defined by its paganism for if they let their spiritual guard down, they would be “enticed to turn away and worship other gods”, bowing down to them. This sinful choice would cause the “Lord's anger” to “burn against” them, so much so that He would “shut the heavens” so that no rain would fall, leading the ground to not yield any produce. Eventually, this would lead to the people of God perishing “from the good land” that God had provided.

Here, we see Moses making one point very clear for the Israelites.  

Being disobedient towards God would bring sure misfortune, the polar opposite of the abundant provision that would come as a reward for their full acquiescence to His will and way.

When it came right down to it, the choice was up to Israel.

And so the lines were drawn.

Obey or disobey.

Flourish or fail.

Or as Moses would sum it up, it would be blessing or curse.

“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse - the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.”

We need to note here that there’s no middle ground. No in between.

If you obey, you will be blessed.

If you disobey, you will be cursed.

Choosing to obey or disobey based on one’s own desires was not an option and this is as much true today as it was well over 2,000 years ago in biblical times.

Indeed, no present believer should think for a minute that God has changed the way He feels about disobedient behavior…AKA sin for it was sin that led Him to surrender and sacrifice His only Son Jesus on Calvary’s cross, providing a way for sinners to be pardoned and saved as long as they placed their belief in His Son. When it comes right down to it, God hates sin and will not accept a cavalier approach from anyone in regard to addressing it.

Given this, we have to see that one of the primary expectations of our Lord is for us to completely eradicate sin from our lives. He has given us all we need to work towards that end and this includes His Word, which instructs us in regard to living right and righteous lives; His Holy Spirit, who comes to dwell within us the moment we believe in Christ as Savior and works from that point forward to lead us in the way of God’s will; while imparting understanding as we read the Bible; and the life of Jesus Himself, who came to earth and personally demonstrated the way God wants us to live.

Yes, our God has provided all the direction we need. Now, we need to step up spiritually and say “no” to the world and its sinful enticements, trading them in for the blessed holiness that God desires for us.

The bottom line is that blessing only comes to those who fully commit themselves to being obedient to the Lord. Curses await the rest. There’s no middle ground.

We know because God’s word tells us.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.