Suggested Bible Reading: Deuteronomy 3-4
Devotional Thought:
Title: “An Exhortation to Obedience.”
Having reminded the people of what had taken place since they left Egypt, Moses in chapter 4 turned their attention to the vital importance of obedience to the “statutes” and the “judgments.” His exhortation opens with the words, “Now therefore hearken.” “Now” indicates “at this specific time.” There are three interesting things to consider regarding the use of the word “Now.” First, Moses wanted to remind them of the lessons to be learned from the years leading up to “now.” At that time they had the events of the wilderness behind them and should now have been able to see the value of following and obeying God’s word. We too should be able to look back at events in our lives and see lessons we have learned. Second, the victories that had been won must not work to give them self-confidence, but rather work to increase their faith in God’s leadership in their lives. Many Christians fall the hardest spiritually right after a great spiritual victory in their lives. Third, they were standing at a critical point in their history and their future success would depend on their willingness to obey God’s word and follow God’s leadership into the promise land. We as a church as well as individual Christians stand at a very exciting time of our history. The call to “hearken” not only signifies that we have to listen, but that we have to do so intelligently and actively. To simply hear the words and ignore their demands is not acceptable to the Lord. James reminds us to ‘be a doer of the word and not a hearer only…” (James 1:22) We must be prepared to accept the implications of the statutes and the judgments that God will teach us, and “to do them.” The use of the verb “teach” indicates that the children of Israel would become learned in the matters of truth, and they would have to understand what they hear. The lesson for us today is clear. Those who wish to follow the Lord must be prepared to accept that they are pupils in the school of God and are not only to be taught, but must put what they learn into practice. The lessons in this school are not merely to interest the mind, but they are to change our lives! There is a very important emphasis in the words of Moses that must not be missed. Israel had to obey all the statutes and judgments, not merely those that they favored or that did not demand changes in their lives. Christians are good at majoring on the parts of scripture that are not a struggle for them and ignoring the passages that demand change. The future blessing and success for Israel in the promise land would depend on their obedience. The judgments and statutes were part of the covenant with the Lord; therefore, it was now emphasized to them that they had no authority to change any of what the Lord had spoken. There is always the danger of adding to or taking away from the Word of God. This trick of the Devil started in the garden and has continued until today. We are not to be ignorant of Satan’s devices. May we all decide to put a priority upon obedience!
Personal Prayer Requests:
- Lord, please help me be honest about the entirety of scripture. Help me to not get over confident in the areas where I am strong and ignore the areas where I am weak. Please help me to obey the whole of scripture.
- Lord, thank you for the gift of the scriptures and the grace to understand them. Please keep me a diligent student that I may know Thee and the power of your resurrection.
- Lord, please remind me often of the lessons I have learned and allow them to motivate me to greater obedience as I embrace the wonderful life you have graciously given to me.