Focus
Stop and thank God for being present with you today. Ask for God’s guidance as you hear God’s voice through scripture and the writer.
Read
Deuteronomy 7:12-26 (NRSV)
If you heed these ordinances, by diligently observing them, the LORD your God will maintain with you the covenant loyalty that he swore to your ancestors; he will love you, bless you, and multiply you; he will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock, in the land that he swore to your ancestors to give you. You shall be the most blessed of peoples, with neither sterility nor barrenness among you or your livestock. The LORD will turn away from you every illness; all the dread diseases of Egypt that you experienced, he will not inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. You shall devour all the peoples that the LORD your God is giving over to you, showing them no pity; you shall not serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.
If you say to yourself, “These nations are more numerous than I; how can I dispossess them?” do not be afraid of them. Just remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs and wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the LORD your God brought you out. The LORD your God will do the same to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. Moreover, the LORD your God will send the pestilence against them, until even the survivors and the fugitives are destroyed. Have no dread of them, for the LORD your God, who is present with you, is a great and awesome God. The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to make a quick end of them, otherwise the wild animals would become too numerous for you. But the LORD your God will give them over to you, and throw them into great panic, until they are destroyed. He will hand their kings over to you and you shall blot out their name from under heaven; no one will be able to stand against you, until you have destroyed them. The images of their gods you shall burn with fire. Do not covet the silver or the gold that is on them and take it for yourself, because you could be ensnared by it; for it is abhorrent to the LORD your God. Do not bring an abhorrent thing into your house, or you will be set apart for destruction like it. You must utterly detest and abhor it, for it is set apart for destruction.
Reflect
Moses was telling the people of Israel what it meant to be obedient to God. He also detailed some of the blessings that would come from their obedience.
Obedience is something with which most of us struggle. From the time we are small children listening to our parents to when we are adults and listening to our bosses, we do not like to have to obey someone else. However, it may be easier to listen to a parent or a boss than God. God doesn’t look over our shoulder to make sure we are obedient. We think we can avoid being obedient in some ways because God is not standing over us.
Sometimes we fail to be obedient because of fear and doubt. The solution for this fear and doubt is the presence and power of God in our lives. God is not standing over us, but God is present. God wants to lead us through the doubts and fears to a life of obedience—a life that is fuller through the grace of God.
Pray
Dear Lord, help us to let go of our fears and doubts. Help us to be more obedient. In your son’s name we pray. Amen.
Go with God.
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