And now, Israel,
what does the Lord your God ask of you? (Deuteronomy 10:12).
One thing I like
about Deuteronomy is how it encapsulates the entire 40 year wilderness
experience into 34 readable chapters. When reading Exodus through Numbers
(especially Leviticus), it’s easy to think God is all about rules and
regulations, but Deuteronomy distills it down to what’s really important: What
does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in
obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I
am giving you today for your own good? (Deuteronomy 10:12,13).
And did you catch
that last part? …for your own good? That’s important for us to remember.
Israel’s neighbors
were envious of its laws. The Law was seen as a sign of favor by Israel’s God,
that he loved his people enough to give them boundaries in which to walk – a
path leading to his blessing and kindness.
God created us to
live in loving relationship with him and with people. When left to our own
devices, we often abuse our freedoms and end up hurting other people, sometimes
to the point of damaging those relationships – even unintentionally. But
obeying God’s laws preserves and even restores them.
TODAY’S MEDITATION
Have you ever damaged a
relationship by neglecting God’s ways? Was it worth it? Are there relationships
you need to mend this week?
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