Deuteronomy 30:11-12, 14

Moses said: “This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, 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?’ No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.”

We are all sinners and are very conscious of our failings. So it is very easy for us to feel overwhelmed by the invitation to live for God. Just like Isaiah, we feel utterly unqualified for such a role. But here Moses encourages the people to believe that they could do it. It wasn’t too difficult for them. God’s commands were not out of reach. They wouldn’t need to make a special visit to heaven or cross the seas to discover it. It was immediately available to them.

This is a really important message. So often, people put off the challenge to obey God today because they feel it’s too difficult to take on at the moment. They want to give it more time. Life is rather busy just now so they think it would be better to wait until the holidays, the children have left home, retirement…or some other distant time. Moses would say to us: “Act now. Don’t put it off. Don’t wait for everything to be perfect.”

Moses himself tried to wriggle out of obeying the Lord. He was, after all, on the run for murdering an Egyptian for many years. That’s why he fled to the desert and was working as a shepherd. He felt spectacularly ill equipped to do the job that God wanted him to do. He needed to learn that even a murderer with a speech impediment was able to serve God. It wasn’t too difficult for him, if he only trusted the Lord.

Question - What is it that God is calling you to do for him today?

Prayer - Lord God, thank you that you call me to serve you and you also enable me to do so. Amen