Good morning,
Moses was summoned by God. Moses goes and spends forty days and nights with God. God gives him two tablets with the Ten Commandments on them. When Moses returns there is a wild party taking place. The people were worshipping a golden calf. Moses throws down the tablets and rebukes Aaron and the people.
Moses is summoned by God a second time. God gives him two tablets with the Ten Commandments on them. This time the people are ready to worship God. The following is what Moses said to the people.
12 And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, 13 To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? 14 Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. 15 Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.
Moses says God required five things of them.
1) Fear the Lord thy God. A reverent fear. A holy fear. A fear rooted in the knowledge that this was the God of all creation. He was also the God of judgment. The God of mercy and love.
2) Walk in all His ways. God had given them leadership through Moses and now through the very written word of God.
3) Love Him. They saw God’s deliverance for them from Egypt. They were free only because God allowed it. That should cause them to love their God.
4) Serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and soul. The goodness of God toward the Israelites should cause them to have a deep desire to serve Him completely, without reservations.
5) Keep the commandments of the Lord, and His statues. God gave them rules to obey. The rules were for their welfare. God gave them all they needed to be successful. All they had to do was keep the commandments.
We know that in the short term the nation of Israel followed the Lord. But then they compromised and felt that their God was unable to give them what they wanted.
Although we are technically not Israelites (although gentiles have been grafted in), God requires these five things of us. So it is important to ask ourselves “How are we doing?”
We have the completed commandments of God. He has given us His complete guidance on how to live life successfully.
Are you reading God’s instruction book, the Bible? If so, are we applying the commands, precepts, and principles? Do we fear the God who created us? Who knows all things, sees all things, and has the power to do anything He pleases.
It begs an answer.
FOLLOW GOD TODAY!
Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001