[Steve Myers] Moses wasn't going into the promised land. Before the Israelites went in, he talked to them about God's expectations, on how God wanted the best for them, and how they needed to obey. And in Deuteronomy 30:19, there's a passage that you're probably familiar with, almost sounds a little ominous, maybe even a little overwhelming. In Deuteronomy 30:19, God says, "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I've set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose life that both you and your descendants may live." And so God tells him, "Here's what you need to do. You need to choose life." And in fact, we find, it doesn't have to be an ominous type of thing.

Just a couple of verses before, Moses said, "This commandment I command you today is not too mysterious for you. It's not far off." And so, he used that word "today." And I think that helps us focus on the point that God was trying to get through to the people through Moses. In fact, when you look through the book of Deuteronomy, today, that word is mentioned 51 times. More than any other book in the Bible, we find that word today. And that can mean in our time, in this time period, but more often than not, today, in Deuteronomy means right now. I mean, literally, it means that the day. But the way that Moses is using it most often here, we find it means right now.

And putting it in that context, Moses in a sense is telling everyone, don't worry, you can be confident and you can be calm in all of this. Take it a little bit at a time. Here's his last opportunity to inspire the people of God. He's got this last time telling them to do what's right, live more life. He in a way is saying, hey, don't look back to Egypt. Don't focus on Pharaoh, and Egypt, and all the troubles, and the slavery back then. In fact, he's in a way saying don't look back at the last 40 years where we've been wandering through the desert and the difficulties that were so tough. Those were difficult times. And at the same time, he didn't focus on the Canaanites that were in the promised land because that was another problem that was lying ahead of them. They were going to have to conquer the promised land. And he doesn't mention that here because that could be a fear of the future.

So you have this beautiful balance. What, in a sense, is he telling them to focus on? Right now. Don't worry about the past. Don't worry about the future. Right now is what counts. Make the right choices today. This moment is what really counts. So focus here, focus now, and let's get started. Don't let fear overrun you. Don't let anxiety hold you back. The worries of the past, let them go. The worries of the future, let's put them off in the future. We don't have to worry about those right now. And so Moses says today, God says today. And so let's follow that guideline and take it a day at a time.

That's BT Daily. We'll see you next time.