Words of life, Word of Life

God had no illusions about the righteousness of the Israelites.  He knew how faithless they had been, and how faithless they would be. 

For that reason, he told Moses to write a song, so that when they turned from God, and things went wrong in their lives, they would know why.

Basically the song was one of God’s goodness to them, and their unfaithfulness to him despite that. 

This song, then, was to be a warning to them, but it also was to give them hope as well. 

God told them,

See now that I myself am He!
There is no god besides me.

I put to death and I bring to life,
I have wounded and I will heal.  (Deuteronomy 32:39)

But the words that strike me most are found in verses 46-47 of chapter 32.  Moses told them,

Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law.  

They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.

I suppose it was God’s way of saying, “I’m not saying this just to waste my breath.  Pay attention.  These words will give you life if you follow them.”

And he says the same thing to us, not just of his written word, but of his living Word, that is Jesus. 

Jesus is the visible expression of all God is.  He came to this earth, taught us what God is like, and the way God wants us to live. 

Then he died on a cross to take the punishment for our sin. 

His life is not to be just idle words to us, just words on a page. 

His life gives us life if we’ll just put our faith in him.

John put it this way,

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us (John 1:14).

And,

To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12)

So don’t treat Jesus as just an idle word, something that can just be ignored. 

Give your life to him. 

For he is the one that gives life.