Prosperity and Doom
The reading from Deuteronomy is Moses instructing the people before they enter the promised land. He is very blunt. You are to choose between life and death. Between prosperity and doom. It seems that the choice would be obvious. Would we not choose life? Would we not want to be prosperous?
Apparently, it was not all that obvious. The people fell away from God time after time. They chose other gods. They broke His commandments. And as they noticed, when they turned away God abandoned them to their own devices until they were in such dire straits they would turn back to God. God would bring them back. And He offered them the same terms. You are to choose between life and death, prosperity and doom. Did they learn their lesson? No.
Does the answer seem evident to you? What do you choose? What have you chosen in the past? Our response must be that we have done much better than the Hebrew people. We desire to live by the commandments, but we fail.
Fortunately, God has sent His Son to redeem us. To bring us back to be reconciled to God. Here God is again blunt. You must take up your cross and follow Jesus. It may seem like an impossibility to us, but recall God gives us only what we can handle. We only need trust in Him. Every day there are crosses to be addressed. Accept what God gives you. Seek His help. Ask for His grace to give you courage and strength. Choose life.
May the Lord bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen