In The Word
Read: Deuteronomy 10:12-11:32
12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the Lord’scommandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? 14 Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it. 15 Yet the Lord set His affection on your fathers, to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, you over all the otherpeoples, as it is this day. 16 So circumcise your heart, and do not stiffen your neck any longer. 17 For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who does not show partiality, nor take a bribe. 18 He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the stranger by giving him food and clothing. 19 So show your love for the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 20 You shall fear the Lordyour God; you shall serve Him, and cling to Him, and you shall swear by His name.21 He is your glory and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen. 22 Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons in all, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.
Rewards of Obedience
11 “You shall therefore love the Lord your God, and always keep His directive, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments. 2 Know this day that I amnot speaking with your sons who have not known and who have not seen the discipline of the Lord your God—His greatness, His mighty hand, His outstretched arm, 3 and His signs and His works which He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land; 4 and what He did to Egypt’s army, to its horses and its chariots, when He made the water of the Red Sea engulf them while they were pursuing you, and the Lord completely eliminated them; 5 and what He did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place; 6 and what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, among all Israel— 7 but your own eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord which He did.
8 “You shall therefore keep every commandment which I am commanding you today, so that you may be strong and go in and take possession of the land into which you are about to cross to possess it; 9 and so that you may prolong yourdays on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the land, into which you are entering to possess it, is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you used to sow your seed and water it by your foot like a vegetable garden. 11 But the land into which you are about to cross to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven, 12 a land for which the Lordyour God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it, from the beginning even to the end of the year.
13 “And it shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, 14 that He will provide rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, so that you may gather your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15 He will also provide grass in your field for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. 16 Beware that your hearts are not easily deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods, and worship them. 17 Otherwise, the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the sky so that there will be no rain, and the ground will not yield its produce; then you will quickly perish from the good land which the Lord is giving you.
18 “You shall therefore take these words of mine to heart and to soul; and you shall tie them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets on your forehead.19 You shall also teach them to your sons, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up.20 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,21 so that your days and the days of your sons may be increased on the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth. 22 For if you are careful to keep all of this commandment which I am commanding you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and cling to Him, 23 then the Lord will dispossess all these nations from you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. 24 Every place on which the sole of your foot steps shall be yours; your border will be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as the western sea. 25 No one will be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will instill the dread of you and the fear of you in all the land on which you set foot, just as He has spoken to you.
26 “See, I am placing before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; 28 and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lordyour God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known.
29 “And it shall come about, when the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, that you shall place the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30 Are they not across the Jordan, west of the road toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh? 31 For you are about to cross the Jordan to go in to take possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall possess it and live in it, 32 and you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the judgments which I am placing before you today.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
The overwhelming theme of this selection of scriptures was for the Israelites to serve God, to love God, and to obey all of the commandments that the Lord God had given them. God was preparing the second generation of people that came out of Egypt to inherit the Promised Land. He also tells them the rewards of their obedience: He will protect them and take care of all their needs.
One of the important points to note here in Deut. 10:16 is that God told them to “circumcise then your heart.” God was teaching them in order to love Him the way He desired, they would not only have to change things on the outside, but also on the inside. This is explained further in the new covenant in Colossians 2:11, 1 Corinthians 7:19, and Galatians 6:15. A circumcised heart is one that God gives us upon salvation through Jesus Christ. Once He is our Savior, He also must become our Lord in which we follow all his commandments, principles, precepts, and statutes. Jesus sums all this up when He gives us the two greatest commandments in Matthew 22:36-40, and when He tells us to love Him is to obey Him.
Ask yourself today, am I trying to inherit all of the promises of God by only trying to change the way I act and look on the outside? If you have truly made Christ your Lord, then you will have the ability through a new heart and the Holy Spirit, to walk holy before God, inside and out.