Message Devotional: Between Black and White

Between Black and White

April 7, 2013

Deuteronomy 30:11-18

“This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand, and it is not beyond your reach.  It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’  It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’  No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.  “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster.  For I command you this day to love the LORD your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.  “But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.”

We don’t talk about morality enough.  In today’s world, we resist the idea that there even is a right or a wrong way to live.  We often simply take our voice and the words of the Lord out of the picture and follow along with society.  Our American culture apart from the church is obsessed with morality.  From politics to grade school discussions, our arguments and decisions have at their core a moral dimension.  The culture is looking to understand what is right and what is wrong in a new way.  Yet the church’s input into this conversation is either silent or antagonistic.  We need to talk about morality in the church and as Christian people.

So where do we begin?  First we must understand where morality comes from.  Determining right from wrong is central to the healthy development of every human being.  We all must do it.  This desire was built into us by God.  God is also the greatest authority and help in determining right from wrong.  He does this through commandments and through Christ.  The centerpiece of both is love.  Commandments are not just rules, they are reliable guides to life given in love.  We live in a grey world.  Right and wrong are often cloudy.  God can make it clear.  We need to have honest, non-judgmental discussions about right and wrong.  We need to live moral lives for Christ.  It doesn’t just happen.  It requires choice.  The moral life in Christ is a great life.  What are your morals?  How are you living them out?