Thursday after Ash
Wednesday
(Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Luke 9:22-25)
It is always interesting to see how people deny
reality. What is both conventional
wisdom and the result of scientific experimentation can be not only ignored but
refuted. One such reality is the added
value of lifestyle to a long, healthy life.
Scientific studies indicate that on the average diet and exercise
contribute between sixty and seventy percent to longevity. Yet some people insist that living ninety
years or more is solely the product of “good genes.” This denial is not worse than that regarding
Moses’ prescription for a long life in today’s reading from Deuteronomy.
The Book of Deuteronomy was finally redacted after the
Babylonian exile. It was used to explain
the ignominy of that bitter experience. It
supposedly foretells how the people could have chosen life in the land that God
had given by obeying His commands. Instead
they followed crooked ways ignoring the poor and worshipping false gods. Yet Deuteronomy does not end in hopelessness. One of the book’s final chapters tells of the
Lord’s eternal willingness to resurrect His fallen people.
We too have fallen – at least a little, at least
sometimes. We act in ways that are not
like God’s as we know Him in Jesus Christ.
We cling to resentments and try to justify our mistakes. We eat and drink to excess and curse at other
drivers. We need to take to heart the
offer of life that God continually extends to us. If we want to live, we have to make God’s
ways ours. For this reason we have the
season of Lent.
