Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. (Deuteronomy 30:11-14, NIV)
We woke up at 3 AM just to get dressed and leave by 5. (Don’t worry, I’ll deal with the schoolwork later!) Everything went fine: packing our bags to the car, driving to a Vallet parking lot and dropping off our van, taking a shuttle to the airport and passing through security. All was normal except one thing (a constant on any trip, unfortunately): the incessant hollering of verbs and short, imperative sentences.
At this point in time, I should know better. I do regret being told and admonished by anyone in my nuclear family (sorry for being PC!) about the same thing over and over again. To date, it is uncanny for someone to be scolded about being aware of EVERYTHING! And yet, it is not far to obey and listen.
This is the same warning Moses gave to Israel (I do love this part of Deuteronomy!) It is not so far out in the heavens for someone to holler, “Dude, can someone get a ladder and take it out for me?”. Nor is the law so far out in the sea or down in the earth for someone to say, “Dude, can you get an oil rig and drill it out for me?” His law is in our minds, souls and hearts, embedded at the sounding of the Spirit within. Paul also uses that a few millennia later, with the obvious reference to Jesus, the One that left from Heaven (not far from the sky), the One that left to Heaven (not that far from the Earth). He is the word that we will listen, sooner or later.
Now, if paid attention….