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10 Now I had stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, as I did the first time, and the Lord listened to me at this time also. It was not His will to destroy you. 11 “Go,” the Lord said to me, “and lead the people on their way, so that they may enter and possess the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.”

A Call to Love and Obedience

12 And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God 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, 13 and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? 14 To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. 15 Yet the Lord set his affection on your forefathers and descendants, above all the nations, as it is today. 16 Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. 17 For the Lord your God is God, mighty and awesome who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. 18 He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing. 19 And you are to love those who are aliens, for you yourselves were aliens in Egypt. 20 Fear the Lord your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. 21 He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. 22 Your forefathers who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

 

After having prayed and fasted for 40 days and nights because of the people's rebellion against the Lord, Moses has once again made two stone tablets, and the Lord has once again written on them the Ten Commandments. In essence, God is asking that the people to respect (fear), follow, love, worship and obey Him. Verses 12 and 13 sound so very much like another verse familiar to us, Micah 6:8” ... this is what the Lord requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” How do we learn to do those things? By letting his Word speak to us, truly listening to Him and resisting our temptation to satisfy ourselves first.

 

Respecting and honoring God without fear, we must not only outwardly follow His Word, but we must submit to God inside, in our hearts, and begin to share His great love for us in our dealings with others. If our hearts and minds are full of God through the ingesting of His Word, then He can pour through us to meet the needs of others. The Holy Spirit is within us to enable us to do just that. If we are not filled with God's love and justice, we have nothing to share except selfishness.

 

Do these Old Testament verses apply to me? While being written to the Israelites, I believe that as a Child of God, who believes in His Son Jesus, they in essence apply to me. After all, an alien does not have to come from another world, another country. An alien could be the person next door or down the street, who has different beliefs, different struggles from mine. My responsibility is to love all, seek common ground, and meet the needs of any that I can.

 

Our heavenly Father, we praise and thank you for all of your Word and for your patience with us. We know that you speak to each of us in varying ways, through prayer, circumstances, and the counsel of Godly friends, but if we have filled our beings with your Word, it is much easier for us to recognize your guidance. Help us to continue to seek You every day and to see you in everything. In Jesus' name, Amen.

 

Sarah (Sally) L. Messmer

star19mess@gmail.com

 

Prayer Concern - For all of us to be more sensitive to the needs of others and to share God's great

love with them.