Those shall have life who choose it.
Those who come short of life and happiness must thank themselves.
They would have had it,
had they chosen communion with God.
Deuteronomy 1
1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,
2 And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
3 That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.
4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:
5 And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.
6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
7 And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.
8 And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day.
9 And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers:
10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
11 ¶ For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
15 ¶ See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
Deuteronomy 1 – J. Vernon McGee
Deuteronomy 30:1-10 – Promises to Returning Wanderers
The Hebrew people have often turned to this chapter in the belief that the day must come when God will pity their forlorn condition and restore them from “the outermost parts of heaven” (Deuteronomy 30:4). They do not consider that the promise was fulfilled in the return of a handful of their race under Nehemiah and Ezra.
The precious promise of Deuteronomy 30:6, where the initial rite of Judaism is to have its spiritual fulfillment, should be compared with Isaiah 52:1. The time is coming when all Israel shall be saved from the mere external badge of their national prerogative, and shall be converted to the true faith in Christ, as their Messiah and Savior. See Romans 2:28-29; Colossians 2:11. Then will God rejoice over them for good. Even now, as the true Israel of God, we may claim this rejoicing for ourselves! —Through the Bible Day by Day
Deuteronomy 30:6—The LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, to love the LORD thy God.
Circumcision is the sign of separation. It was enjoined on Abraham and his children that they might be God’s peculiar people, chosen from all the nations of the earth. Similarly, the circumcision of Christ, which is made without hands, of which the Apostle speaks, is a putting off, a separation from the sins of the flesh, a participation in the grave and burial of Christ (Colossians 2:12).
We must be separated from the spirit and temper of the world. Between us and its sins, ambitions, methods, there must be not only an outward, but a heart severance. We were separated in the purpose of God when Jesus was cast without the camp to die. But we must be separate in our personal behavior. Wouldst thou have this? Then claim that this promise should be fulfilled, and ask that God would circumcise thine heart—the seat of thine affections, the hearth of thy soul-life.
Then thou wilt love the Lord with all thine heart. This is why we love God so little. The force of our love is spread over too wide a surface—it is like the river Orinoco, which is lost in swamps as it approaches the sea. If only we were really separated from all that is alien to God, and given up to Him wholly, we should find all the capacity of our hearts becoming filled with His love. We should love all things and people with a tenderness and glow which were steeped in colors obtained from His.
You will never succeed in overthrowing the strongholds of Satan, Christian worker, till God has taken away your self-reliance, and has brought you down into the dust of death: then, when the sentence of death is in yourself you will begin to experience the energy of the Divine life, the glory of the Divine victory. —Our Daily Homily
Deuteronomy 30:11-20 – The Supreme Choice
The immediate purpose of this passage is to encourage the people by reminding them that all things needful for a holy life are within their reach. Paul refers to it for the same purpose, Romans 10:6.
The love and grace of God are not concealed as hidden mysteries might be. There is no need to undertake a long and dangerous journey, like that which brought the eastern Magi to the manger-bed of Bethlehem. The Word of God, which is another name for our Lord, is very nigh to us all. We have only to lift the heart to Him in simple faith, and confess Him as our Savior and Lord, and we are assured of salvation from the penalty and power of sin.
Love to God and compliance with His will is the only way of life and peace. Let us choose this narrow path. The gate is strait, but the way becomes always easier. It is narrow, but pleasant. —Through the Bible Day by Day