And now Israel, what does the Lord your God, ask of you but to serve the Lord your God by keeping his commandments and statutes which I enjoin on you today for your own good. As the first series of questions in the Baltimore Catechism remind us, the human person was created to know, love, and serve God. It is of paramount importance that the human person is aware of this for the simple fact that his happiness lies herein. This appears to be the gist of Moses’ address to the sons of daughters of Israel about which we hear in the First Reading.
Moses, perhaps feeling that he was approaching the end of his days, decides to give a series of addresses to the community in order to both remind the community of her identity as a partner with God to the covenant, as well as to call her to fidelity to God (vv. 12-13). The sons and daughters of Israel were yet to arrive at, and take possession of the Promised Land. Taking possession of the Promised Land was God’s promise to them when they left Egypt. But from the series of constant display of infidelity by the people in their sojourn in the desert, Moses was aware that the Promised Land was far from being a surety. It was very possible that the Israelites would continue their rebellion against the Lord and by so doing forfeit God’s promise to them and end up perishing in the desert. Later on, Moses would remind the people that the Promised Land (life) was within their reach (cf. Deuteronomy 11;26-28). But they had to make the choice. To realize the promises of God, all they had to do was to choose obedience to the commands of God. To the sons and daughters of Israel listening to Moses, this was a very practical instruction. The couple of times the people had chosen to disobey the commands of God, death (curse) swept through their camp.
The choice to life put before the Israelites by Moses is obedience to God's command. God was to be not only their companion but most importantly their guide as they journeyed through the wilderness. As their guide and companion, it was the responsibility of God to keep them safe from the dangers of the wilderness as well as to lead them to water and food. The command of God was also to help the Israelites live as a people of God once they reached the Promised Land.
The two choices are also laid before us as we undertake our journey here on earth. We have within us the power to choose life or reject it. If we have to live, we have to navigate the treacherous causeway that is our world. Only by listening to the command of God can we do that.