A few years ago, I crossed a significant milestone when I turned 50, a full half a century. More than half my life is now in the past. It’s easy to pine for the good old days, but the truth is, as we cross life’s milestones, we are all forward-facing—we are always looking to the future, the choices we will make leading us to the people we will be. Whether you’re in your 50s like me, or hitting the milestones of 16 or 21 or 40 or 80—we all have to consider where we stand with the Lord in our stage of life. Milestones and crossroads are important times to take stock of our faith and our walk with God.
In the Bible, the people of God face an important crossroads in their walk with God in the book of Deuteronomy. Moses had led Israel out of slavery in Egypt some 40 years earlier. Now they are on the boundary of the Promised Land. They are at a crossroads in the wilderness, and the question before them is whether or not they will have the faith and determination to move forward with God and enter the land he had called them to. Their path is uncertain in this moment; their parents’ generation had failed at this same boundary. Will they succeed?
Deuteronomy is helpful for us in the way it challenges us to consider the claims of God—his greatness, love, and power—and then encourages us to act, to take hold of the life he calls us to. Deuteronomy is essentially a collection of sermons that Moses gives to the people as they stand on this boundary of the Promised Land. In his sermons he reminds them that “the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.” He calls them to hear God, to remember God, and to obey God, so that they will succeed in this new land.
In a way, Moses’ sermon to the people is like a parent giving counsel and encouragement to their child leaving for college or even going to a friend’s house for an overnight. Remember who you are and what God has done for you. Continue to fear him, to love him, and to obey him. Don’t let this crossroads before you be the end of your faith; let it be a time for strengthening your faith. Behind this sermon is deep love for the people. Moses knows that blessings will come to them if they continue in their faith; but curses and heartbreak will come if they don’t.
What crossroads are you facing in your life? Maybe you’ve turned 16 and just received your driver’s license. You’re more independent now. But who will you be with your new freedom? Maybe you’re off to college for the first time—will you make your parents’ faith your own? You might be newly married—will God be at the center of your marriage, or will he get pushed aside in the hustle and bustle of starting a family? Maybe you’re just bored in your mid-life and wishing something could be different. Will you give into sin to dull the pain, or follow the Lord as you wait for his renewal and guidance? Maybe you’re retired from work, but you now face the question of whether you’ll retire from the life of the church and the Lord.
We are starting a new sermon series on the Book of Deuteronomy this fall. I will give an overview of this book, and introduce you to some of its major teaching. We will also take a closer look each week at the Book in our adult Sunday School class, digging deeper into its teaching. We’re always at some crossroads or hitting some milestone. May this book be an encouragement to you as you continue to walk with the Lord and lay hold of the Christian life he wants for you.
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