Death was very near. Perhaps the greatest figure ever to grace Jewish history was speaking some last words to God’s chosen. As he had done on numerous occasions, Moses once again encouraged the Israelites to love the Lord their God, walk in his ways, and keep his commandments. He said that they would receive the promised land if they did this. Near the conclusion of his message Moses said, "I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for that means life to you ..."

If I were to ask you what was the opposite of death, most of you would answer, "Life." If I were to ask the question of Moses, he would probably answer, "God." For Moses, God was synonymous with life. The same was true for other Old Testament and New Testament writers as well. For all of them, the fullness of a life worth living was only possible when it was lived with God.

Unfortunately, for some of us, God is not much more than a sacred vagueness. We have not taken the time to discover how God describes himself fully in his Holy Word. Our God is just that, our God - one we have fashioned after our own likeness. Our God is not tolerant of the foibles of others, only ours. We are like the little girl who was busy painting a portrait of what she claimed was God. When the mother pointed out that nobody knew what God looks like, the girl said, "They will when I’m finished." That’s cute with children, but can be tragic with us.

Moses knew what life with God was all about. It was a life with meaning, one full of excitement - God parting seas for salvation, miraculous manna from heaven, divine and patient guidance for a consistently difficult people. Therefore, Moses commanded the children of Israel to live, "loving the Lord your God, obeying His voice, and cleaving to Him."

Almighty God desires nothing less from us. God is to be our life - he desires to dwell in us. He wants to be in our consciousness - not one or two hours a week but every moment. God is always present; we all affirm that, but we must be conscious of that presence. Even more, we should seek to intermingle our presence with his presence. In other words, we need to practice the presence of God in our lives, showing by the way we live that he dwells in us. When we are feeling far from God, guess who’s moved? God certainly didn’t.