Deuteronomy 4:44-5:33 – God’s Covenant Lordship
Deuteronomy 6 – The Principle of Consecration — Love the Lord Your God
Thoughts about serving others
This link includes a list of posts about Serving the Least, the Lost, and the Lonely.
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Let the Word evoke words. May your life encourage lives.
In Deuteronomy 5:1 Moses summons the Israelites and begins to teach them again, to recite the laws and decrees, even the Ten Commandments. I saw the phrase “Learn them and be sure to follow them” (5:1) and thought about the word, “learn.” This is far more than simply memorize, much deeper and Moses is trying to make a point here. After all the wandering through the wilderness, they are on the verge of entering the Promised Land, “in the valley near Beth Peor east of the Jordan” (4:46) and Moses reminds them of the covenant made with the Lord our God. It’s a powerful statement and significant moment.
It seems to me that every mainstream religion has some basic set of principles on which to base their beliefs. In truth, as Christians we agree with many others, at least conceptually. Moses summarizes the law in a simple verse, one that should be “learned” completely:
Love God and strengthen the community of believers, your neighbors, your family. There are no words that command us to prosper and get rich, to accumulate wealth and the latest version of everything. God knows these things are only temporal, riches will not endure. On the contrary, if we adhere to these commands, if we take care of our relationship to God first then our family and our neighbors, then we will be rewarded. The concluding words in Deuteronomy 6 implore us to follow these simple commandments for a reason beyond just the words and letters, God wants us to prosper “and if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness” (6:25).
From the chorus in Matt Maher’s incredible worship song: “Every hour I need you, my one defense, my righteousness, O God how I need you.”
Lord may we remember these Ten Commandments, may we remember that we need you more today than yesterday, indeed we all need you. I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ, that we would love the Lord with everything we have and that we would love our neighbors, inviting them to join the feast.