Deuteronomy 30:16
In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
To love the Lord is to walk in His ways and keep His commandments and statutes and judgments. Life and increase and blessing in the land to be possessed are conditioned on that love and obedience, which is given for the people's good and is their life, for the Lord Himself is life and length of days. The command sets before them life and death, good and evil, blessing and cursing, with heaven and earth as witnesses, calling them to choose life for themselves and their children by loving and obeying and cleaving to God, while turning to other gods will surely bring perishing. Willing obedience is the road to happiness and life and disobedience the path to misery and death, yet Satan has misrepresented the law and turned the signpost so that multitudes mistake the way while professing to obey. God's covenant gives for obedience a life measuring with the life of God and for transgression death, unalterable as His throne, and that same word still binds His people today to love Him in heart and life by practicing justice and mercy and love to God and man.
Terms of Life and Blessing
Loving the Lord is shown by walking in His ways and keeping His commandments and statutes and judgments. Life and increase and the Lord's blessing in the land to be possessed are conditioned on that love and obedience. That prosperity is both spiritual and temporal, granted on condition of obedience, for keeping the law is for the people's good and is their life. Those who do His commandments will live in them, for Christ gave them with that promise.
The commandment is not hidden or far off, not in heaven nor beyond the sea, but very near, in mouth and heart, to be done with all the heart and soul. The Lord Himself is the life and the length of days, and upon obedience He rejoices over His people for good and makes them plenteous in family and cattle and land, securing their dwelling in the land sworn to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. There is set before the people a choice between life and death, good and evil, blessing and cursing, with heaven and earth as witnesses. They are called to choose life for themselves and their children by loving and obeying and cleaving to God, while turning away to worship and serve other gods will surely bring perishing and loss of days in the land.
The same choice between obeying and living or disobeying and perishing applied to the dwellers in Eden, whose happy condition depended on faithfulness to their Creator. Willing obedience to God and His law is the road to happiness and life, and disobedience and sin the path to misery and death. That way was erected as a plain signpost, as clearly defined as the road to the city of refuge, but Satan has misrepresented and attempted to change the law and in an evil hour turned the signpost around, so that multitudes mistake the true road while professing to obey. The commandments are given in love to foster temperance and industry and economy and other virtues that support long life and health and happiness and peace and prosperity.
God's covenant gives for obedience a life measuring with the life of God and for transgression death. What He has spoken is unaltered and stands fast forever, as unalterable as His throne, and when every case is decided in the courts of heaven it will be brought forth plainly written, and the world arraigned before infinite justice to receive sentence according to obedience or transgression, so that obedience means eternal life and disobedience means death. The obedience the law calls for affects physical and mental and spiritual well-being, bringing life and health and peace and assurance, and is linked to eternal life. Because so much is at stake, those who claim to be God's messengers must go to the Word of life in honest and wise and prayerful research to know what the Lord says.
Israel's wilderness experience illustrates the command's importance, for God led and protected them, but they became lax in keeping His commandments, including the Sabbath, and punishment followed. The verse is connected with the promise that those who keep Christ's word patiently will be kept through the coming trial and may receive the crown promised to faithful overcomers. It is echoed in the commitment to keep God's commandments and live.
Obedience in Daily Living
The command once spoken from the pillar of cloud still binds those called by His name who have received great light, requiring love for the Lord expressed in walking in His ways and keeping His commandments in heart and life through justice and mercy and love toward God and man. Having light means walking in the light with a converted heart that practices the truth, rather than taking up truth while retaining old hereditary and cultivated traits of character. Walking contrary to that command, especially by men in responsible positions at the heart of the work who cling to such character, mingle a wrong spirit with words and actions, and combine to do what God has expressly forbidden, insults God, abuses His honor, misrepresents His character, and causes justice and equity to fall.
When God tells parents what He requires He means literal obedience, for the law calling for love to God, following His ways, and keeping His commandments and statutes and judgments unto life and increase under His blessing is given to all the world to govern human minds. Parents must therefore obey it themselves and diligently instruct their children to love and fear God, to become acquainted with the law, and to obey all the commandments of God. Disregard for God's laws and despising of His Sabbath has put the world in rebellion and controversy with God, and transgression handed from parents to children from generation to generation has kindled His wrath and made sin and iniquity abound. That course has left the world in its present terrible state as in the days of Noah, whereas if parents had obeyed and trained their children in love and obedience to the law the world would not be as it is today.
Loving the Lord, walking in His ways, and keeping His commandments and statutes and judgments unto life and increase and blessing applies to the care of the sick, where physicians and helpers are to cooperate with God against disease both by using natural remedial agencies and by encouraging patients to lay hold on divine strength through obedience. Physicians and ministers are to unite to lead people to obey God's commandments, studying the intimate relation between obedience and health and teaching the sick to live in harmony with heaven so they will be richly blessed in body and in spirit. The same word sets a blessing or a curse before the church and before each person, a blessing if they will be willing and obedient and receive the light graciously given, and a curse if they rebel and refuse that light and continue in hardness and impenitence. God will not be trifled with but will draw near by His judgments upon continued hardness, for light or darkness stands as a choice each must make, and choosing rebellion separates from God and leaves one ready to perish.