August 17, 2020
The message of Deuteronomy is one that the church desperately needs to hear today. These final words of Moses given to the children of Israel as they prepared to enter into the Promised Land serve as a warning, an encouragement, and a charge. Through them, God exposes the idolatry of our hearts and calls us to give all of our love, worship, and devotion to Him alone in every area of our lives! Moses warns the people that when they enter the land there will be things that compete with God for their attention, their affections and their worship. We, too, have hundreds of things that compete for our hearts each and every day. In this book, God teaches us how to properly respond to the amazing grace He has given us by giving Him our undivided allegiance, our whole hearts and our whole lives. Over the next 34 days, let’s seek this ancient way together as a church!
Here in this chapter we see the greatest of all commandments, according to our Lord Jesus. Verses 4-5 say this: “Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” This command to love God to the fullest extent with every fiber and every aspect of our being is the foundation for our lives as Christians!
Moses also exposes the sin in our hearts and the proclivity he have to forget about God when we do not feel nor see our immediate need for Him. He warns the people of Israel that, after they are at rest in the land and have their fill of good things, they will be tempted to forget God. The past 40 years they had been entirely dependent on God for their day-to-day food and water, but now they were going into a place where they would have abundance, and abundance always introduces a danger of forgetting God.
Surely many of us face this exact problem! We feel as though we deserve what we have received because we have worked hard for it, that the plenty that we have is our own, and in our abundance we forget our need for God and His grace! This kind of thinking inevitably leads us away from the Lord and into idolatry. Are we really aware of our absolute dependence upon God?
Part of the problem is that we tend to view idolatry only as giving ourselves and our hearts to bad things; Moses is warning us here that we can easily make idols out of the good things that God has given us! Whenever anything rules our hearts and motivates our actions more than love for God, that thing has become an idol, no matter how good it may seem to us.
Our proclivity to forget our need for God whenever we don’t feel our direct need for or dependence upon Him exposes our need for His grace to intervene. Not only do we need to be daily reminded of our need for God and of His gracious provision, we need hearts that are ruled by love for Him above all else!
It is only in loving God above all else that we will ever learn to obey Him, to depend fully on Him, and to live out our love for Him in love towards others. Give to Him His rightful place of love and worship in your heart today!
Deuteronomy 6
The Greatest Commandment
6 “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the Lordyour God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10 “And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12 then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. 14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— 15 for the Lord your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.
16 “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. 17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you.18 And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers 19 by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised.
20 “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.22 And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. 23 And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. 24 And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. 25 And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.’
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Family Discussion Question:
- In our culture and context, the vast majority of us have abundance. How might we live differently if we really lived our lives completely dependent upon God to provide what we need? What are some ways that you can make the choice to love Him with all your heart, soul, and might today?
The best way I have found to stay focused and dependent on the Lord is to seek Him daily through prayer, His word, and giving thanks. Scripture is visible in my home, and not only are they a reminder, but they are often prayer points and opportunities to connect with God throughout the day. I seek Him and His daily bread so that He will mature me, and so I am in tune with my spiritual senses. He wants to use me, and I want to make sure that I am useable.
Heavenly Father,
I humbly bow before the maker of the universe. You make it to rain on the just and the unjust. You are righteous and full of grace and mercy.
May I love you with all my heart, all my soul and with all my might. Open my eyes to see things that keep me from serving you. Fill me with your spirit and guide me on the path that leads to heaven.
Father, may your Son’s light shine in all that I do and say.
As Jabez prayed: Bless me today, Father. Enlarge my sphere of influence. Fill me anew and afresh with the Holy Spirit. May my eyes see evil so I can run from it, so as not to cause you and others pain.
Now Father, may I go forth in word and deed proclaiming the Good News…let’s find one more for Jesus today! Amen
Amen and amen…
Deuteronomy 6:18 “And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may go well with you”…. Amen.
AMEN and HALLELUJAh!!! Dear Lord I want to rise up to be the child of God that you want me to be. I know I can’t do everything by myself without you. I know everything that I need is for the asking. I want to feel your presence. My prayer here today is to keep my faith in you. Tolive by your commandments, everyday. In Jesus name I pray Amen ????
Dear Heavenly Father,
I love the quiet of the mornings before the world wakes and the hustle and bustle begins. It is so good to spend time in Your Word and to absorb and meditate on Your commandments and teachings. This is the time when I truly can examine my heart and see if it is in the right place. It is so simple really…depend on You and lean not on our own understanding. Just trust and obey, for there’s no other way. We make our lives so much harder than they need to be. We are taught to get an education and a good job and strive to go up the ladder of success. But if You are not in our lives, we are wasting our time and energy, for what we are building will crumble one day. You are the architect, the glue in our lives. Without You, we will fail. Please remind us of this everyday. “We are to meet God in the morning and walk with him all through the day.” This is my prayer for all of us. In Jesus’ name, I pray. ? Amen.
Amen and amen …
So…..day 17 begins. When the loneliness creeps into my heart, Lord, fill my spirit with thoughts of You and gratitude for the many years you gave to Ernest and me. This house is so quiet. Amen.
The Lord be with you Pat. My heart goes out to you this morning as I read your words of loneliness, the quiet house. May God your anchor refresh you everyday, bring you peace and joy. May He lift His face to shine upon You and give you peace now and for evermore. You will be okay my dear. You will be okay. Just hang in there, one day at a time. We all know it is hard what you are going through. Leave your radio on Christian music FM 89.3 or 105.7,
all day. Perhaps that will help. Love u?
Thank you Lord God our Father, that as we rush around accomplishing this and that , that you know our hearts and where we truly want to be, with you Lord. I praise you Holy Father that you understand and that we are not destroyed because of the Grace we possess in Christ Jesus. However dear Lord teach us to numberour days, and to realize that as Jan says. all we build will crumble in the end and only you will remain.
Help us there fore Lord to number our days right and to give You the proper worship you alone deserve.
We do love you Lord for You have filled our hearts with yourself. Thank You so much gracious Father. Through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen,!!!
Father, I love you and I need you. I recognize that you love. Thank you for providing, for giving me life! I pray today that my life will be for others’ good, your glory, as I seek to do kingdom work.
When I start thanking the Lord for all His many mercies to me, His goodness and grace, His protection and love all these years, I realize again how it all is from Him and for Him . And as a widow I am learning that He alone is enough, more than enough. I am blessed indeed.
Years ago I started praying for conviction and humility. Out of my prayers, God began to convict me of the over abundance of stuff and things that I owned and wasn’t being used. From that conviction, I began cleaning closets, my kitchen and the entire house donating things that wasn’t being used and I no longer wanted or needed. I now clean and donate things every 4-6 months when I know I am never going to use or wear something that someone else could be using and bringing them joy. I also now spend my money on needs verses wants so that I can donate to others. It is an awesome feeling to give and help others. Like my mother use to say “You can never out give God”. So I live by this everyday because I am truly blessed and loved by Jesus as he supplies all my needs and gives me some of my wants.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for loving and taking care of me.
You are truly a good Father. Amen.
great to read how you have changed your wants to giving by honoring God
The Holy Spirit convicted me awhile back that despite our income I must start giving God back 10% of income. I have been faithful these last two years even though we live on a tight income even with the little bid SS gives you God gets. We have gotten refunds that we did not expect in the mail, we are surviving and now God just allow us to qualify for a loan to refinance our and I house note went way down. If we stay faithful and obey him he will always answer our prayers of course if it is his will for us.
I will love the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my might.
Forty years ago, my pastor defined idolatry as anything that comes between us and the true worship of God. That can include your wife, children, entertainment, car, boat, childrens’ Sunday sports, etc. Think about it.
Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty!
Deuteronomy 6:4. Hear, Oh Israel: The Lord our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Help me ,Lord to follow this command. Help me to always love You the most and to lovingly put others before myself. Help me to shine brightly for You!!!