Readings for the Day:
Reflection:
In our readings from Torah today, Moses tells the Ancient Israelites what will happen if they follow God and what will happen if they don't.
Verse 18 in particular outlines what will happen if the Israelites don't follow God. Now the word for what will happen here is most often translated as "perish" or in language to that affect. The word used here is אבד, which can mean "to perish". It can also mean "to be lost". Both connotations are important here.
Without God, we are lost. That means failing to act in the way we should, mainly by the Two Great Commandments to love God and our neighbor as ourselves. It is worth noting that the first of these Two Commandments is mentioned in our reading today.
When we act in a decent, moral, and ethical way, we actually find ourselves ultimately living better. This is what God is saying through Moses in our reading today.
This way is what the world often looks at as weak. Yet, as Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:9, the power of God is "made perfect in weakness."
The world may want the quick and easy way that comes through mistreating others, yet that path, in the end, leads to mayhem and destruction not only for those around us, but for ourselves as well. In other words, not following God will lead to our demise. It may not happen now. It may not happen for many years to come. But it will happen.
Throughout Scripture, I often imagine God's words, in essence, telling us, "Look, I'm trying to show you the best path forward, but if you don't listen, bad things will happen." Our reading today shows God saying that most clearly.
Being lost means we have fallen away from the Lord. Without God, the Creator of all life, we can only fall into destruction, the absence of our very being. That is what the duality of אבד really means. Being lost leads to our perishing as we move away from the fountain of all being. So walk with God. It's not that the way won't be hard at times, as we often see with the Prophets. Yet in the end, this is the better path, for ourselves and for the world. This is the road we need to take. This is the way of excellence and morality that will lead us back to the Lord.