The Most Important Scripture in Old Testament Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NLT)
“Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NLT)
Pastor’s Blog
This passage is the central passage of entire Hebrew bible (what Christians call the Old Testament). It states clearly that there is only one God (Judaism introduced monotheism to the world). It states that The God who made the world, reveals to us how the world works and how to live in the world and that our job is to live in this world rightly by following God’s plan (the commandments are a gift, the revelation of how to live effectively and abundantly, not, as so many people think, God’s attempt to box us into an austere, joyless existence).
But to obey, thereby living rightly and well, is not enough. We are to tell our children over and over, talk about God’s plan (commandments), wherever we are. The symbolism of attaching them to your hands (as many orthodox Jews do today . . . literally) means that our actions should be governed by God. The forehead means that they should be on our minds. And the doorpost symbolizes our coming and going, the protection of our home as a “sanctuary” for godly living, and the reminder that as we leave we must carry the knowledge of God into a hostile world.
In fact the CLC has this passage placed at its outer entrance to the sanctuary lobby. It’s called a Mezzuzah (which is the Hebrew word for “doorpost”).
Given the above background, allow me to ask the same question I asked yesterday, “What aspect of God’s law do you routinely not obey, either because you don’t think it’s important or because you trust your own desires to make you happy more than you trust God’s commands to make you happy?”
(to post your thoughts, anonymously if you wish, simply click on “comments” below
I didn't ignore your question yesterday. I've been considering it. My reaction to my often violent chaotic childhood was to become pretty controlling. My teens and twenties were quiet painful. I was afraid all the time.
ReplyDeleteThe Lord has taken each of the areas of my life, one by one, and put each in fearful peril where I had no way to protect or even cause a change. Then HE took the peril away. And one by one, I learned to give my fears to Him. Now, each time I find myself standing on the edge of a cliff of a decision, the questions I ask are really quite simple: do you believe or don't you? do you trust Him or don't you? If you believe what you say you believe, then act on it. I recently had two major areas of concern...life changing areas...and while I trusted Him to solve them, I must admit I spent long hours crying out my heart on His shoulder.
The area I disregard most of the time has to do with "Observe the Sabbath to keep it holy". I believe this Commandment was also for our well-being and that we are to set the FULL day aside to contemplate and enjoy the works of God (as He did when He "rested"). Too many "good things" get attention on the Sabbath and the espense of the "right" things.
ReplyDeletePastor this is a great question!!!
ReplyDeleteMy list of chronic sins became unmanageable. I would confess to God but fall again sooner or later. I was forgiven but not healed.
Here are CR's twelve steps toward a more comprehensive answer.
1.We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable.
2.We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3.We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.
4.We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5.We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6.We were entirely ready to have God remove all of these defects of character.
7.We humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings.
8.We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
9.We made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10.We continue to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
11.We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of his will for us, and power to carry that out.
12.Having had a spiritual experience as a result of these steps, we try to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Twelve Steps review can be completed one evening a week for twelve weeks.
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Loving God enough to trust Him to work things out, probably is both my most challenging area to obey and yet, my most victorious area of obedience as well.
ReplyDeleteI first heard from God at age 17 and I chose to trust Him then. I was suffering from what would now be termed Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder. Until one day, I heard/felt God say to me, much like Anonymous 1, "Do you believe in me or not?".
I immediately, literally made my decision to trust Him and not be afraid or guided by the urgings I was experiencing. I gained a strength that would empower me in the days to come. Days that brought further 'chances to choose' and further times of victory.
So, I would say trusting God as part of my loving Him is an aspect that demands His patience and His mercy with me still, in big ways and small ways, but it's His patience and mercy I know I shall have-
Thank you, Jesus, I love you.