Devotional thoughts from Deuteronomy

September 29, 2005

Deut. 1: How can I carry, all by myself, your troubles and burdens and quarrels?

The book of Deuteronomy is made up of a sermon or series of sermons by Moses, the man of God.  The occasion is the conclusion of his leadership (and life) and the pending entrance of God's people into the Promised Land after 40 years in the wilderness.  Moses wants to remind them of their history so that they will take their story with them into the new land.  He also wants them to remember the mistakes of the past so that they won't repeat them -- and to remember the gracious faithfulness of God who has been with them and will continue to be their God.   It shouldn't surprise us that this book has a lot of repeat material in it -- after all, Moses is preaching to remind them of these things.  Still, I see a somewhat different emphasis in this sermon as old stories are retold.  In the passage that draws my attention today Moses remembers how he organized the leadership.  We saw that his father-in-law first suggested it, then, later on, it seems the plan had not been carried through and God reminded Moses of this approach.  Here, we see Moses once again remembering how overwhelmed he was as a solo leader.  He couldn't carry their burdens and needed help.  I know this is true -- a leader who tries to do it all will do a poor job of all of it.  It may make that leader feel important, even indispensable, but in the long run, his or her leadership will be a failed effort.  The solution is to select the right people to help, to empower them, to continue to enhance their abilities, and to keep them connected to the primary leadership and the Lord as our ultimate Leader.  At 120 years of age and after 40 years of leadership we can be pretty sure Moses knows what he is talking about.

October 1, 2005

Deut. 1: Don't be terrified of them, God, your God, is leading the way; he's fighting for you.

Never mind that the "you" in this passage was not the members of the present congregation, but their parents.  Moses is speaking to them as a nation of people, seen as one with the previous generation.  This doesn't sit well with our Western mindset.  We are individuals making our own decisions apart from others, much less those who are already dead!  It was 40 years earlier that Moses had said these words and "they" refused to hear, refused to have faith, and refused to obey.  The penalty was 40 years in the wilderness -- an experience all those in the congregation hearing this sermon did share, at least to some extent.  It will soon be their turn to hear, believe, and obey.  Moses is preparing them for it by reminding them of their already shared failure in their parents.  Still, God is the God of second chances.  Soon they will stand at the banks of the river.  To a great extent, they will have opportunity to erase the failure of those who had gone before them.  While I am no expert on "generational curses" (or "generational blessings" for that matter) I am reminded that my failure or faithfulness reaches far beyond my individual life.

October 3, 2005

Deut. 4: What other great nation has gods that are intimate with them the way God, our God, is with us?

I am tempted to focus on "national gods" here.  That was pretty much the way of the whole world in that day.  Each nation had their own gods and it was totally outside the box to imagine kicking out your nation's gods to worship those of another.  I am pretty sure a case could be made that we still have "national gods."  In the instance of my country those gods would be named, "Materialism" and "Pleasure."  However, instead of pursuing that line of thought (come to think of it, I guess I already did!) I will focus on what it is like to worship the true God.  Men do not make this God -- this God makes men.  This God makes no demand of us that he doesn't first make of himself.  For instance, before he calls us to love him, he first loves us.  In fact, this God always acts first, moving in grace-full ways in our lives.  As Moses says, this God seeks intimacy with his Creation.  Moses wants his congregation to realize how blest they are.  Of all the nations of the earth, they have the God who willingly involves himself in every level of their lives.  I am blessed today to experience that same level of intimacy with the one true God.

October 4, 2005

Deut. 4: Don't let your heart wander off.

Moses is familiar with failure.  For 40 years he has struggled to keep this nation on the track God laid out for them.  There have been both successes and failures.  As he preaches this final sermon, he urges his listeners to stay alert -- to be aware that spiritual disaster sometimes comes bit by bit rather than all at once.  It is possible to become dully satisfied, to fail to be alert to negative changes in our attitudes, and to begin to drift spiritually.  The problem isn't limited to individuals temporarily losing sight of their goals -- it can be national and it can be generational with parents failing to pass their faith on to their children.  Having a current, connected, committed relationship with God is worth any effort it might take.  For those of us who are so wonderfully blessed the danger isn't that we will wake up tomorrow morning and declare that we aren't interested in God anymore or that we aren't going to attempt to influence our children to be genuine Christians.  The danger is that we will drift.  Moses says, "Don't let it happen -- be aware of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

October 5, 2005

Deut. 4: God, your God, is not to be trifled with -- he's a consuming fire, a jealous God.

On one hand, I have the matchless grace of God: his patience, forgiveness, and good will toward me.  On the other hand, there is his justice: a hatred of sin and a love for righteousness.  I had better not ever forget God's justice.  Ultimately, God will have his way.  To presume on God's grace is to ignore his justice.  Moses tells the people to be careful that they don't mess with God.  They have made certain promises that include promising to keep the ground rules God has laid out.  What is true for them is true for me.  It isn't that God requires perfect behavior from me -- that is beyond my human reach.  However, he does require me to keep faith with him.  He requires me to live my life as a man of God and to be open to his correction and leadership in my life.  This relationship is not only my valued treasure, but is also my greatest responsibility.  It must be held in utmost reverence in my life.

October 6, 2005

Deut. 4: If you seek God…you'll be able to find him if you're serious, looking for him with your whole heart and soul.

Again, Moses is no stranger to spiritual failure.  As the leader of this people, he has seen repeated failure.   Even as he warns them against trifling with God, even as he cautions them about having wandering hearts -- even then, he knows that they will mess up again.  The thing is, not only is Moses familiar with spiritual failure, he is also familiar with God's grace.  Time after time he has seen God reach out to these people in mercy, love, and forgiveness.  In this, Moses has learned some important things about the God who called him from the burning bush.  He tells them, "before anything else, God is a compassionate God."  Even if his warnings to these people go unheeded, God's character will be unchanged.  People, even people who have miserably failed, who seek God whole-heartedly, find God.  There is so much hope here that it takes our breath away.  There is a remedy for spiritual failure.  There is hope for the fallen.  There is a God of second chances and if we seek him with all our hearts we will find him…and in finding him we will find hope and restoration.

October 8, 2005

Deut. 4:Obediently live by his rules and commands which I'm giving you today so that you'll live well and your children after you

So how does it work?  Is it that God has given me these rules and regulations, and will bless me if I keep them?  I don't think so.  God doesn't lay down arbitrary rules just for the purpose of keeping people in line.  His purposes for me are filled with grace and mercy.  If God says, "Don't" I can be sure that it is for my benefit, not his.  My Creator, who knows me better than I know myself says, "When I created you, I hardwired some very specific things.  If you want your life to function at it's best, here is how you are to live."  Following those guidelines doesn't mean life will be trouble free (after all, there is that ugly business of The Fall) but it does mean that I will live the best, most satisfying and fulfilled life possible.  Not only that, but by living according to God's plan, I will be teaching my children the best way to live too.  The result will be that my kids will be more likely to adopt my approach to living in a relationship with God too, and their lives will also be better lived.

October 9, 2005

Deut. 5 GOD didn't just make this covenant with our parents; he made it also with us, with all of us who are alive right now.

Some things are generational.  That is, they are passed along from parents to their children.  Some of the promises of God are like that.  Such promises are with a people, a nation.  Because of that it could be said that the children inherit the promise from their parents.  Some generational issues are not exactly the property of the children in the way those big promises are, but because of human nature, they almost seem to be.  Parents have an influence on their children.  If that influence is godly, the result is very likely  positive.  On the other hand, if that influence is negative, it is very possible that things will begin to unravel more and more with each passing generation.  However, it does not need to be that way.  The reason is that God remains active from one age to the next.  Moses tells his listeners that the relationship God had with their parents, a relationship that was broken by their disobedience, is now offered to them.  They won't say, "We are God's people because our parents were God's people."  Instead, they would be his people because God has selected them and they have responded.  It is a wonderful thing when parents pass their faith along to their children.  It is even better when the children actively respond making that relationship to God their very own.

October 10, 2005

Deut. 5: You were afraid, remember, of the fire and wouldn't climb the mountain.

It was over 40 years earlier but Moses remembers it like it was yesterday.  God called him up to the mountain and in that place he had a powerful encounter with the Almighty.  The people of Israel, however, didn't want that experience.  They saw the billowing smoke, the fire of God, and were afraid.  Because of that, they preferred that Moses be their representative while they stayed safely in the valley.  I wonder how many blessings I miss because it is easier to stay where I am than it is to have a raw, fire-filled encounter with God?  Beyond that, it is probably reasonable to confess here that it is frightening to come face to face with God.  It is more than just my wanting to stay comfortably unchanged.  To get that close to God is to step into the fire.  Even when I know intellectually that it is a good thing to meet God at that level, even when I hunger for him in my spirit -- even then, I find myself hesitating to abandon myself to the fire of the Almighty.  But I must.  Otherwise, I condemn myself to a life that is a shadow of what it could be.

October 17, 2005

Deut. 6: Attention, Israel! GOD, our God! GOD the one and only! Love GOD, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got!

Even elaborate systems of thought can be distilled to basic concepts.  The Shema of Deut. 6 is not all there is to God's intentions for us, but it is the center point for all else, the foundation upon which all else is laid.  God is one.  He exists.  All that we can hope for and all that we can ever expect to know starts here: God is God.  And, God desires our love.  He wants us to love him without reservation -- with absolute abandon.  This isn't all that we should know about God's desire for us, but it starts here.   Everything else: the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament and the Beatitudes of the New Testament, the story of Creation of Genesis to the promise of restoration of John's Revelation…all of it starts here.  God is and our relationship with this "I Am" is founded on love.

October 18, 2005

Deut. 6: The next time your child asks you, "What do these requirements and regulations and rules that GOD, our God, has commanded mean?"

The people of God are to be different than other peoples.  However, they aren't to be different just for the sake of difference, their uniqueness means something.   They are to be a unique people because they have a unique relationship with God.  While there is no question that God is worthy of worship, there is more to it than worship.  There is to be a connection between them and their God.  That connection impacts everything about them: moral behavior…yes, but even what they eat, how they cut their hair, how they dress.   Even their calendar is to be built around their relationship with God.  It was because of how their religion with God saturates their lives that their own children and people from the outside will be perplexed and ask questions.  The answer is given: "we live this way because of God.  He has rescued us from our past and he has impacted everything about us.  Our lives are all about God.  That's what these things mean."  That works, not only for people camping out near the Jordan River, but for me too.

October 19, 2005

Deut. 7: God wasn't attracted to you…because you were big and important…he did it out of sheer love.

It's a bit humbling isn't it.  Moses is talking to the "chosen people" who are about to enter the "promised land."  Everything about this causes them to think of themselves as special.  But Moses says "no" to that kind of thinking.  Come to think of it, this shouldn't be too hard.   Their ancestors for ten generations back were mere slaves in Egypt.  Their parents were nomads without an inch of land to call their own.  Moses says to them, "You aren't special -- it is God's love that is special."  Well, that's kind of what he says, but the other side of this coin is that because God loved them and treasured them -- because of that, they are special, indeed.  So it is with me.  God doesn't love me because I am special -- I am special because God loves me.

October 20, 2005

Deut. 8: So it's paramount that you keep the commandments of God…walk down the roads he shows you and reverently respect him.

The road God has led them down has not always been easy.  At times, they have been pushed to the limit.  Still, in all of it God proved faithful.  There has been manna from heaven, perpetual clothes and shoes, and many other direct evidences of God's steady faithfulness.  The fact of the matter is that while their wilderness journey is about to end, there are more times of testing to come.  Those same giants that scared their parents off 40 years earlier still live down the road a few miles ahead.  The cities are still fortified, and the armies there are still superior.  Moses says they need to learn from the past as they move to the future.  I am reminded today that sometimes God leads me down roads that scare me to death!  Still, as the old song says, "He never has failed me yet."  With that in mind, I walk down the roads he shows me.  If he says, "go" that means he will go with me and make a