It’s funny what pops in your head when reading the Bible. Sometimes nothing, to be honest, but other days connections snap like corn popping.

Mister Spock, from the TV series Star Trek, loomed before me this morning with his dour visage. Spreading his fingers he pronounced the classic line—Live long and prosper.

I thought of the Enterprise’s faithful first officer as I read how Moses, in his parting words, implored the children of Israel to stay true to the Lord. Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you possess.

Live long and prosper, the blessing attributed to Vulcan sages, was appropriated by the writers of Star Trek straight from the mouth of Moses. But they left out one vital prerequisite—walk in obedience to all that the Lord has commanded you.

As kids my friends and I worked to spread our fingers like Spock. The move creates more of a challenge for some than others. But what remains a challenge for all of us is the practice of walking in obedience to all that the Lord has commanded. This proved too hard for Moses’s audience, just as it proves too hard for us.

Thankfully, Jesus followed Moses, creating a new path toward prosperity we all can follow.

Now to figure out how to make a Vulcan Mind Meld work for me.

Deuteronomy 5 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022