Monday, May 29, 2023

⁴ Listen, Israel: The Lord is our God. The Lord is the only God. ⁵ Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. ⁶ Take to heart these words that I give you today. ⁷ Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you’re at home or away, when you lie down or get up. ⁸ Write them down, and tie them around your wrist, and wear them as headbands as a reminder. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

¹⁰ The Lord your God will bring you into the land and give it to you, as he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This land will have large, prosperous cities that you didn’t build. ¹¹ Your houses will be filled with all kinds of things that you didn’t put there. You will have cisterns that you didn’t dig and vineyards and olive trees that you didn’t plant. After you have eaten all that you want, ¹² be careful that you don’t forget the Lord, who brought you out of slavery in Egypt. ¹³ You must fear the Lord your God, serve him, and take your oaths only in his name. ¹⁴ Never worship any of the gods worshiped by the people around you. ¹⁵ If you do, the Lord your God will become very angry with you and will wipe you off the face of the earth, because the Lord your God, who is with you, is a God who does not tolerate rivals.

¹⁶ Never test the Lord your God as you did at Massah. ¹⁷ Be sure to obey the commands of the Lord your God and the regulations and laws he has given you. ¹⁸ Do what the Lord considers right and good. Then things will go well for you, and you will enter and take possession of that good land which the Lord promised to your ancestors with an oath. ¹⁹ You will see the Lord expel your enemies as he said he would.

²⁰ In the future your children will ask you, “What do these regulations, laws, and rules which the Lord our God commanded you mean to you?” ²¹ Tell them, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord used his mighty hand to bring us out of there. ²² Right before our eyes the Lord did miraculous signs and amazing things that were spectacular but terrible for Egypt, Pharaoh, and his whole family. ²³ The Lord led us out of there to bring us here and give us this land he promised to our ancestors with an oath. ²⁴ The Lord our God commanded us to obey all these laws and to fear him. These laws are for our own good as long as we live so that he will preserve our lives. It’s still true today. ²⁵ This is how we’ll have the Lord’s approval: If we faithfully obey all these laws in the presence of the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.” Deuteronomy 6:4 – 25

       Why do I do the things I do?  Why live my life – to the best of my ability and with His help – by the commands of God?  By nature, I don’t like being told what to do and when to do it.  In fact, when others – beginning with my parents and my parishioners – attempt to control me, to tell me what to do, I become a wild ass, bucking and braying.  So, why then is God’s word so precious to me?  Why do I see to follow it?

       First, the commands given in love.  God gave the Law out of love, not restriction, not punishment, but “for our own good” (v. 24).  Second, my obedience is my love.  Because I love Him, I seek to live according to His will and His standards (v. 5).  And third, my obedience is my gratitude.  Moses describes the mighty acts of God on our behalf, rescuing us from slavery in Egypt and bringing us into a promised land.  Indeed, redeeming me from slavery to sin and death and bringing me into a promised covenant with Himself through Jesus Christ and His suffering, death, and resurrection.  O God, make me thankful – not in words alone, but – my thoughts and my actions.  Amen!