Some mornings when I read the text a portion leaves the page and attaches itself to me immediately. Today was one of those days. Verses 12-13 did that today. And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?
Direct, clear, understandable… it warmed my heart and challenged my thoughts.
Fear the Lord; obey, love and serve Him with everything I have. Pay attention to His commands -His Word.
Good words to live by… but living is more involved than reading.
Fear, obey, serve… meditating on these, the order seems to be significant.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, right. So that is a good starting place. And if I fear God, truly fear Him, then I certainly will obey Him as well.
Obedience seems to represent a different character set than serving. Obedience is a direct response to God’s commands and orders. Serving on the other hand can also imply my initiative. For example, I serve my wife by knowing what pleases her and doing those things for her. So serving, in part, grows from my initiative to please and honor, which is additional to responding obediently to God’s commands and directives.
Fear, obey, serve… three words for today and all the todays of my life.
Lord, thank You for inspiring Moses to give us these three simple words. Now, Lord, help me to embed them into my life. In Jesus’ name and for Your glory, I pray. Amen
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