LISTEN VERY CAREFULLY!
Opening Prayer
Spirit of God, fill me so that I may continually abide in Christ.
Read Deuteronomy 6
Love the Lord Your God
6 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
10 When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
13 Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. 16 Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. 17 Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors, 19 thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said.
20 In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?” 21 tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 Before our eyes the Lord sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. 23 But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land he promised on oath to our ancestors. 24 The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. 25 And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.”
Footnotes:
a Deuteronomy 6:4 Or The Lord our God is one Lord; or The Lord is our God, the Lord is one; or The Lord is our God, the Lord alone
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
How wonderful would someone have to be to deserve the love of all your heart, soul and strength?Having restated the Ten Commandments, built on the foundation of God’s rescuing love, now Moses calls Israel to love that God! God’s good purposes for the people were based on his promises to them. So, it was important for the people to pay careful attention and know that the Lord, their God, is one—a God worthy of their complete love!
Don’t allow the word “one” to confuse you. Moses is not making a numerical claim that God is solitary. The same word “one” is used of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:24. He is not saying the Trinity is impossible. Rather, he is saying that the Triune God of Israel is the uniquely real God worthy of all devotion!
This God is so worthy of love that the people are to make sure that they never forget the blessing of his word, but keep it close to their hearts and prepare the next generation also to respond to him (6–9, 20–25).
One problem many face is the temptation to drift and forget God because of their prosperity (6:10–12). God warned them that their hearts could drift when things were going well. Is this not so?
Apply
What things cause you to forget about God or to trivialize your time with him? How can you arrange your priorities to reflect God’s heart?
Closing prayer
Show me what matters to You, God. I want to love what You love and give You the devotion that You so deserve.
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