The Greatest Commandment
6 “This is the command—the statutes and ordinances—the Lord your God has instructed ⌊me⌋ to teach you, so that you may follow ⌊them⌋ in the land you are about to enter and possess. 2 ⌊Do this⌋ so that you may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life by keeping all His statutes and commands I am giving you, your son, and your grandson, and so that you may have a long life. 3 Listen, Israel, and be careful to follow ⌊them⌋, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly, because Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey.
4 “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. 7 Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Remembering God through Obedience
10 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would give you—a ⌊land with⌋ large and beautiful cities that you did not build, 11 houses full of every good thing that you did not fill ⌊them with⌋, wells dug that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant —and when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.
So why do we read the Word? Dr. Guthrie offer these 9 reasons:
- To know the truth (and it will set you free...sorry had to throw that in);
- To know God in a personal relationship;
- To live well for God. Living out His will express our love for Him;
- To experience God's freedom, grace, peace, and hope;
- It gives us joy;
- To grow spiritually. To help renew our minds (Romans 12.1-2);
- To guard ourselves against sin and error;
- To be built up as a Christian community;
- To be able to minister to others (Christian and the lost).
If had to pick just 3, it would be, in this order, 2,1, and 9 (although I think if we concentrated on 2, the others would take care of themselves, but another blog for another day).
Which brings us to Deut. 6.1-12. If you have been a church for any extended time you have definitely heard this one before, but we can not afford to overlook the significance of Moses' words. Our workbook asks the following questions about this passage:
1) What is the relationship between loving God and living according to His ways? The answer is fear (v. 2). We do them out of reverence for our God. The Bible definitely contains teaching about conditional promises, but our ultimate reason for obedience is love and reverence.
2) Why do you think it was so important for the people to be immersed in God's teaching as they entered the land? I think the answer is in verse 12 "Be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt". God was giving them a land full of milk and honey (flowing, that is where I'm going, Canaan land is just in sight...squirrel!) and things they had not worked for (wells the didn't dig, etc.). During this time of prosperity it was going to be easy for them to forget who this land came from. We see this pattern - God blesses Israel, Israel gets content and forgets God, God warns and ultimately removes His blessing from them causing various degrees of trials, Israel repents, and we start over.
3) How can Christians today keep the Word at the forefront of our lives as we interact with the world? We have to find Heart Space for God and for His Word. v. 6 - "These words I'm giving you today to be in your heart." vs. 7-9 go on to talk about how passionately God wanted them to be towards His teachings. Teach them to your children. Talk about them as you go out. We HAVE TO, HAVE TO, HAVE TO make time. Not just 5 minutes here or there, but dedicated, focused, heart felt time.
Quiet Times
If you have ever been to any time of new believers class you have been introduced to the Quiet Time. The 5 things every Christian should do every morning at the crack of dawn. Said an opening prayer? Check! Read my chapter for the day? Check! Write it down? Check! Go over my prayer list? Check! Do it again tomorrow? Maybe!
I do not mean to be disrespectful but a few years ago having a Quiet Time became like eating your vegetables . I know I should but are Brussell Sprouts really created by God? I understood it was good for me, but it became like a religious duty and nothing else. So I created what I call an "Encounter Time" - A deliberate time of solitude where you intentionally seek the presence of God through reading of Scripture, meditation, and/or prayer.
Okay, call it what you want, but the key is finding time to find God on a regular basis. My prayer is that you MAKE time to do just that.
2) Why do you think it was so important for the people to be immersed in God's teaching as they entered the land? I think the answer is in verse 12 "Be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt". God was giving them a land full of milk and honey (flowing, that is where I'm going, Canaan land is just in sight...squirrel!) and things they had not worked for (wells the didn't dig, etc.). During this time of prosperity it was going to be easy for them to forget who this land came from. We see this pattern - God blesses Israel, Israel gets content and forgets God, God warns and ultimately removes His blessing from them causing various degrees of trials, Israel repents, and we start over.
3) How can Christians today keep the Word at the forefront of our lives as we interact with the world? We have to find Heart Space for God and for His Word. v. 6 - "These words I'm giving you today to be in your heart." vs. 7-9 go on to talk about how passionately God wanted them to be towards His teachings. Teach them to your children. Talk about them as you go out. We HAVE TO, HAVE TO, HAVE TO make time. Not just 5 minutes here or there, but dedicated, focused, heart felt time.
Quiet Times
If you have ever been to any time of new believers class you have been introduced to the Quiet Time. The 5 things every Christian should do every morning at the crack of dawn. Said an opening prayer? Check! Read my chapter for the day? Check! Write it down? Check! Go over my prayer list? Check! Do it again tomorrow? Maybe!
I do not mean to be disrespectful but a few years ago having a Quiet Time became like eating your vegetables . I know I should but are Brussell Sprouts really created by God? I understood it was good for me, but it became like a religious duty and nothing else. So I created what I call an "Encounter Time" - A deliberate time of solitude where you intentionally seek the presence of God through reading of Scripture, meditation, and/or prayer.
Okay, call it what you want, but the key is finding time to find God on a regular basis. My prayer is that you MAKE time to do just that.
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