Skip to main content

The Lord Your God

This short but incredibly important phrase appears 45 times in Deuteronomy. More than any other book in the Bible. It also appears in what Jesus said is the Greatest Command, which by the way is also found in Deuteronomy. Do you think that God was trying to emphasize an important point?

He not only was, but he IS emphasizing the most important point. God must be mine! These words were repeated so many times in Deuteronomy because the people were about to make a move. Not that they hadn't been moving for the last 40 years, because they had been. But this move was different. They were going to be settling down for awhile. They were coming into the Promised Land. It was full of cool stuff, like furnished houses and planted gardens. All the comforts of home just waiting for their arrival. Really cool stuff.

However, there would be a great temptation to forget about God, who had brought them to this place. Funny how that works isn't it? Not really. But that is what happens with us isn't it? God provides us with all we need and more, and we think that we got the stuff with our own abilities and intelligence. Easy to do isn't it?

So, to remember that the Lord is my God, I need to be in his word daily. It helps to keep me humble. Because it reflects my ingratitude and selfishness and my total dependence on him. I really don't like that part and neither did Israel. Because it wasn't long until they forgot God. Really sad. So don't let this be your story. Remember the Lord your God. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tottering!

I was watching my one year old grandson, Brandon, today. He had on some baggy little shorts, weird flip-flops over his socks, and he was tottering. It made me think about how I often feel these days. Funny how that when we are little and "innocent" and tottering in our baggy pants, with our little potbelly sticking out from under our t-shirt we look precious. When we are older and tottering in our low slung trousers and the same potbelly, we looks pathetic! I guess that the two drastically opposite points of view are based on the viewer's chronological perspective. Brandon is growing and I'm dying. He is cute because the little guy has a lot to learn and we love to see him progress. The old guy has already had his chance at learning and what he is progressing toward is not quite so much fun to ponder. When I have these weird thoughts I praise my God because He never lets go of my hand whether a tottering little guy or an old one. And I found this verse to prove my po...

What Are You Worth?

What are you Worth?  Have you ever thought about what you are worth? In investing circles there is a term used to gauge this exact question, it's called Net Worth. You take all of your assets, like property owned, funds in your bank account, clothes, jewelry, car, etc.. You total all of these things. You then take everything you owe, like mortgage, car loan, and credit card debt, and you subtract these items from the first total. This gives you your net worth. That number represents where you are financially. Most people never stop to think about this number because they don't understand anything about it. They never have two nickels to rub together. They live from hand to mouth and know (or at least believe) nothing will ever change so, they fall into the "daily grind" mentality. Psalm 49 should be a great encouragement to such as these. The sons of Korah write about them. These sons write about all of us. They call all people everywhere to listen to their wisdom. Bo...

The Missionary Thing

"I wish I could get into this Missionary Thing!" I have heard this statement a number of times during my missionary career. People say it in feigned jest. Especially when they see something special happening to missionaries. Tonight for instance a friend loaned us his brand new Chrysler Sebring. Or how about this one, Someone once gave us $10,000. I think that the "Missionary Thing" statement is a reaction to perceived preferential treatment. Granted, I had never receive $10,000 in a lump sum offering until I became a missionary. I had never had anyone give me a car, house, apartment, computer, airline ticket and myriad other things until I became a missionary.  Being a missionary does have it's definite benefits. One of the biggest of those being that we get to do what Paul did. Paul was able to recount his story to perhaps thousands before his death at the hands of Nero. We are still feeling the after-shock of his message. Paul's is that Christ-like exampl...