(Kent Heaton)

Moses is giving the law to the nation of Israel one last time to remind them to obey God in all His commandments and to choose life instead of death. From the beginning of time and God's dealing with the children of Abraham, obedience was demandedf God in every word spoken. The problem with men was their desire to go their own way and follow their own laws.

Cain displeased God and failed to gain the respect from God. The early world of Noah's day choose to follow their own desires and were destroyed in the flood. Time and again the children of Israel disobeyed God as He brought them out of Egypt and led them to the promised land. The generation that stood before Moses on that day was the remnant left of those who had disregarded God's law.

In giving the law to the people, God reminds them again of the futility to believe they could live any way they choose and still come and worship Him. In Deuteronomy 29:19 He says, "And so it may not happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, `I shall have peace, even though I walk in the imagination of my heart' -- as though the drunkard could be included with the sober."

Here is the simplicity of the law of God and the consequences of disobedience. So often men will hear the law of the Lord and know the consequences of disobeying that law. However, in their minds they accept the law but believe their lives need not change. They believe they will be pleasing to God even though they live the way they want to live and act they way they want to act.

The New International Version renders this idea: "I will be safe even though I persist in going my own way." From the New American Standard version we find: "And it shall be when he hears the words of this curse, that he will boast, saying, 'I have peace though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart in order to destroy the watered land with the dry.'" Here is defined the difference of man and God. God expects complete obedience and man tries to fool himself (as he cannot fool God) to believe he can live a life as he chooses and still be pleasing to God.

The prophet Jeremiah proclaims a fulfillment of this warning to the people of Israel Jeremiah 7:4-6 - "Do not trust in these lying words, saying, `The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these.' For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt." The people had believed that the temple would save them although they oppressed everyone about them and shed innocent blood. This was against the law of God and they could not live in that manner and find a blessing from God.

In the same chapter Jeremiah writes: "Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, `We are delivered to do all these abominations'? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it," says the LORD. But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel." (Jeremiah 7:8-12)

The people had done what the Lord commanded them not to do. They had believed the lie of living like the world and serving the Lord. Matthew 6:24 declares plainly, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

The keeping of the law of God is based upon obedience in every walk of life. In religion today many are told that they can live as they desire as long as they come and make a confession at the end of the week. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that a priest can absolve the sins of anyone in confession. This has given rise to the very thing the Lord condemned in Deuteronomy 29:19.

The denominational world of religion has embraced the same tenets of worldliness to allow their members to disregard the law of God to keep their lives entrenched in the world. Homosexuality is the latest in the continuing decline of morals in religion and society. The Methodist church has embraced the idea that one can live as they choose and still come and worship God acceptably. In many other faiths, worldliness runs rampant through its corridors and yet the doctrine of peace and safety is taught from the pulpits that absolve the guilt of sin.

Lest we feel too smug in our own conceit, the body of Christ is being flooded with those who hear the gospel of Christ preached and yet choose to live as they please on a daily basis. There is safety in the minds of many who believe as long as they attend services or have their names on a roll - yet their lives in the work-place, in the home and in the community is anything but pleasing to God. They trust in lying words.

The prophet Samuel scolded King Saul with these words following Saul's disobedience of God's command: "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams." (1 Samuel 15:22) Here is the essence of what God was telling the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 29:19. Obedience is how we live each day of our lives and obedience is keeping the law of God. We can never be pleasing to God if we try to serve Him and yet remain a part of the world.

Can we feel safe and at peace when we disobey the word of God and seek to follow our own desires? Often we hear people say, "I am a religious person but I believe that God allows me to do what I want in my life." The teaching of the Lord is that man cannot walk in his own way. Jeremiah 10:23 - "O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps." Proverbs 14:12 & 16:25 say - "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Man cannot walk as he pleases and be pleasing to God.

For the Christian, sin is sin. Telling a lie is not something that is a bad idea - it is a sin. Engaging in premarital sex is not an expression of love but a sin - fornication. Using God's name in vain is not acceptable - it is a sin. What we find is that when we examine our lives before God, we should recognize the law of the Lord as the rule and authority for every day. We can never have peace and safety if we are not obeying His word.

How easy it is to fall into the trap of believing that God will accept me as I am and I can do what ever I want. God is long-suffering, patient and kind but He is also a loving Father who expects obedience to His word. We cannot walk in our own paths nor seek the counsel of our lives from our own desires. Our desires, emotions and needs are to be directed by the word of God.

Where is true peace? "Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:5-7)

"But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." (Colossians 3:14-17)

True peace is found in following the wonderful word of God. How beautiful life is when we abide in His law. "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome." (1 John 5:3)