Deuteronomy 30:15-20: No Blessing Apart from the Blesser

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. - Deuteronomy 30:15-20

There is no blessing without the bless-er. 

Doesn't it seem harsh to "command" someone to love the Lord? How do you order love?

But this passage seems to be predicated on love being a choice rather than a reaction. We tend to think of love as something that happens to us, that we feel as a reaction to someone's positive regard for us. Here, though, it seems to assume the opposite: that love comes through choice. We love whom we decide to love. If we think about it, we know that this is true, because no marriage would last if it was based on a reaction rather than a choice. Think about it, would God love us as a reaction to our paltry actions? No. He chose to love us, long before we ever loved him.

So these aren't verses that command a feeling, but rather they command a choice. "Choose life...that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice and hold fast to him." (v.19) Is it easy? No, but the alternative is to be destroyed. The blessing isn't something that get's started and then just continues un-aided. Rather, it continues because of God. You don't get the blessing without holding fast to the bless-er. 

Deuteronomy 30:15-20: Just A Pound Worth of Sacrifice, Please

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. - Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Two alternatives laid out before the people listening: life and prosperity or death and destruction. Love God and you will live. These words were written because these two alternatives were both possible and there was a strong temptation to choose the path not recommended. 

Many incentives are placed before them: you will live, you will increase, God will bless your future, God will bless you children's future, God's voice will guide you, God will grant you many years in the land where you will go, God will allow you to fulfill the destiny promised to your ancestors. 

Many dis-incentives are placed before them: you will die, you will be cursed and your future plans will be cut short.

What was so tempting that people would risk the downside? Moses called it being "drawn away to bow down to other gods". These other gods promised rewards more in line with their plans on a timeline that met their agenda and with permission to indulge their their preferred desires. And the cost was more manageable than loving the Lord and following him and his commands. Yes, it was a smaller payoff, but also smaller sacrifice. You didn't have to be all in, surrendered, just enough to pay the gods their due. 

The people didn't want a "lord" they just wanted an add-on to their ok lifestyle. The temptations to search for partial surrender are just as strong today: just a pound worth of sacrifice for a happy-enough risk-reduced life. And just as deadly to our souls.