Saving my skin

There have been repercussions after the Parents Day on which we gave out report cards to students. I remember once a parent complained to the Principal that the remarks given by the class teachers were unacceptable. The child failed to hand in assignments. There were two class teachers, A and B. A denied having written this particular remark. B said, "I couldn't remember." The next day, B took the trouble to collect written statements from the other subject teachers, proving that the child really had failed to hand in assignments. The problem was that none of them had ever sent the child to the detention class to finish the assignments, nor had they put down any records in the student handbook to inform the parents. In order to save B's skin, B implicated all other subject teachers! Often when we try to cover up one mistake, we make more mistakes.
(BTW, I have, sort of challenging your curiosity, buried the identity, the name of B in this sentence, by ELS. Zero seven on end.)
Deuteronomy is worth studying in great detail. Jesus made use of it to fight against the temptations from Satan after his baptism. It is truly a book of life. Today, we read Deuteronomy 30. There are a lot of ideas permeating into the New Testament.
and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you this day, with all your heart and with all your soul;
then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes, and have compassion upon you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you (Deuteronomy 30:2-3).
These words seem to come from the pens of people returning from exile rather than from Moses. Would it be possible that the final version of Deuteronomy was written after the Babylonian exile? Very likely.
And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live (Deuteronomy 30:6).
Jeremiah and St. Paul speak of the same idea (Jeremiah 4:4, Romans 2:29). We should obey not only the letters of the law but also its spirit. Follow the law and learn from its spirit because letters are dead and new circumstances demand appropriate actions that flow from the spirit of the law.
Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor (Deuteronomy 5:20).
This commandment forbids people to bear false witness in legal proceedings. Does it mean we can lie outside the court room? Of course not. The spirit of this commandment is honesty and personal integrity. Without integrity, a person disintegrates into a lump of walking meat, buffeted mercilessly by the surrounding circumstances. Woe to such a person who has to think up lies after lies to cover his tracks.
Is the law of God too idealistic, too difficult to follow? The author of Deuteronomy disagrees.
For this commandment which I command you this day is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.
It is not in heaven, that you should say, `Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?'
Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, `Who will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?'
But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it (Deuteronomy 30:11-14).
Jeremiah has a similar idea. When God establishes a new covenant with men, He will put His law in their hearts (Jeremiah 31:33).
In fact, in our hearts, we want to do good, to do the right thing. But very often, we surrounder our integrity in face of hostilities, threats and obstacles. In the end, we simply shut down our defence and plunge into and become part of the bigger current. Woe to them.
I declare to you this day, that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.
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 and length of days, that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them (Deuteronomy 30:18-20).
Choose God. Choose life.

Dear Lord, You have shed Your Precious Blood to redeem us. Some of us are in need of Your special love and care. I pray that none of us is lost at the end of the day (John 18:9). Amen.