And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you? (Deuteronomy 10:12)One thing I like about Deuteronomy is how it encapsulizes 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 boils it down to what's really important: What does the Lord ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, 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? It's important to remember that God's laws are good for us. God created us to live in loving relationship with him and with people. When left to our own devices, we often abuse our freedom by damaging those relationships - even unintentionally - but obeying God's laws restores them.
The verses you've mentioned stood out to me, too. This passage gives us a good road map to follow as well.
ReplyDeleteLater in the reading (ch. 11, v. 10-12), I couldn't help but think of Oregon where it describes the Promised Land (the Message): "But the land you are about to cross the river and take for your own is a land of mountains and valleys; it drinks water that rains from the sky. It's a land that God, your God, personally tends—he's the gardener—..."
And, I couldn't help be wonder how heavy those stone tablets were! He mentions carrying them in his arms (not once, but twice!). My arms got sore just thinking about it.