Deuteronomy 31:14-18 – Be careful how we walk

The time to commission Joshua had come because Moses’s imminent departure was drawing nearer. The Lord told Moses to come before Him at the tent of meeting together with Joshua for the commissioning of the latter. So Moses did as he was told and came before the Lord who appeared to them in a pillar of cloud. The impending death of Moses was again reiterated to him. At the same time, the Lord also gave a sad warning of Israel’s future. With Joshua listening in, God told Moses that with his departure there would come a time when the people of Israel would rebel against Him and play harlotry with foreign gods in the land which they would soon enter. They would break the covenant He had made with them and forsake the Lord.

In Deuteronomy 31:17-18, God then went on to describe what would happen when they rebelled against Him. He warned that “His anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will come upon them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come upon us?’ But I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods.”

This sad inclination of rebelling against the Lord, however, was not just the unique tendency of the people of Israel. Evidently, this same inclination is also ours today. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 tell us in no uncertain terms “…that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of^]godliness, although they have denied its power….” It behooves us therefore as people who profess to love God to be judicious and prudent with our lives.

To be forewarned is to be forearmed. There is a need for us to cultivate integrity as we walk with the Lord. Be honest, responsible, trustworthy, dependable, and accountable in life. It would mean that we keep our focus on God and not allow the circumstances of life to shift us like chaff, shifted by the wind. As difficult as life may present itself, be sure not to cut corners and compromise on divine principles. Always take a stand for God’s Word. Take heed to the words of Hebrews 12:3, by “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.…”. When we do that, we will not let the world cause us to look to the right or left. Then we will not be derailed!