Monday, November 25: Deuteronomy 30- The little word 'is'.

Here it is, Moses’ last will and testament to Israel before he dies. His ultimate word to the people he led for 40-years… This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (19-20).

Reading this sound-bite, five single-syllable words caught hold of my heart: the LORD is your life. Yahweh/God Almighty is your life.

I sat with that simplest of sentences. The word ‘is’ functions in a sentence much like the algebraic equal (=) sign, the left and right side of the equation can be reversed and it means the same thing. 2+2=4; 4=2+2. These are the same.

The LORD is your life. Your life is the LORD. I pondered these…

I return to the original, the LORD is your life and consider it more deeply. ‘Is’ present tense, a perpetual present reality… Every day reality is that the Lord is my/your life. It is not that the Lord ‘fills’ your life or ‘gives meaning’ to your life, or ‘guides’ your (or my) life (though God does do these things). What the line says is that the LORD is your life.

I soak in this,  My thoughts are difficult to express on paper.

I delete more thoughts than I write, so difficult is it for me to express all I am seeing in these 5 simple words.

At my deepest sense, I realize I only have life when the Lord and I are bonded by ‘is.’ This makes little sense grammatically, but my heart knows what I am sensing and experiencing as I ponder this word…

Lord, God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, my life IS in You. Yeah, my life IS You. Thank You for reminding me of this profound reality and truth. Amen.

 

No comments:

Post a Comment