““In the future, when you experience all these blessings and curses I have listed for you, and when you are living among the nations to which the Lord your God has exiled you, take to heart all these instructions. If at that time you and your children return to the Lord your God, and if you obey with all your heart and all your soul all the commands I have given you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you and gather you back from all the nations where he has scattered you. Even though you are banished to the ends of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you from there and bring you back again. The Lord your God will return you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will possess that land again. Then he will make you even more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors! “The Lord your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live! The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate and persecute you. Then you will again obey the Lord and keep all his commands that I am giving you today. “The Lord your God will then make you successful in everything you do. He will give you many children and numerous livestock, and he will cause your fields to produce abundant harvests, for the Lord will again delight in being good to you as he was to your ancestors. The Lord your God will delight in you if you obey his voice and keep the commands and decrees written in this Book of Instruction, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul. “This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, and it is not beyond your reach. It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’ It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’ No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it. “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy. “But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.””
Deuteronomy 30:1-20 NLT
God’s love is not a simple love. It is not one dimensional. The way he loves includes juxtapositions of grace, justice and mercy. It takes into account limitations and it is self sacrificial. It requires nothing but at the same time desires everything. This passage illustrates the heart of God. The common perspective to take on this passage is that it is from our righteous God to a sinful creature. This is true, but the same could be said about an Inifinitely moral being to a being who is finite and still moral. Between the two, one will never live up to the other. The idea that all have fallen short of God’s glory doesn’t require sin to be true. This passage demonstrates how God handles that divide. He handles it by requiring man to walk acrossed a bridge that he erects. He doesn’t require men to build a bridge. This is an invitation that accounts for the great divide of both sin and creatively limitations. One must only accept and partake to commune. Again, there is a causal relationship with reality being put forth. Without God, everything decays. This is not a threat. It is a truth. The offer to join him is largely utilitarian. This is the nature of his love. It works. It is right for us to know this and to love him for it. Therefore, let us run to him, rather than away from him.
God’s Love: God’s love is complex, encompassing grace, justice, mercy, and self-sacrifice, and it addresses the limitations of finite beings.
God’s Relationship with Humanity: God’s love bridges the gap between the infinite and finite, offering a path to communion despite human shortcomings.
Benefits of God’s Love: God’s love is not just about morality; it offers a path to a better life, a truth that is both practical and right.
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