September 4, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The message of Deuteronomy is one that the church desperately needs to hear today. These final words of Moses given to the children of Israel as they prepared to enter into the Promised Land serve as a warning, an encouragement, and a charge. Through them, God exposes the idolatry of our hearts and calls us to give all of our love, worship, and devotion to Him alone in every area of our lives! Moses warns the people that when they enter the land there will be things that compete with God for their attention, their affections and their worship. We, too, have hundreds of things that compete for our hearts each and every day. In this book, God teaches us how to properly respond to the amazing grace He has given us by giving Him our undivided allegiance, our whole hearts and our whole lives. Over the next 34 days, let\u2019s seek this ancient way together as a church!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his chapter Moses continues giving miscellaneous laws to the people of Israel, concerning things from marriage and divorce to justice for the poor. Several times in this chapter Moses bases one of the commands he is giving the people in a command to remember. More specifically, he calls on them to remember their former state as slaves in Egypt before the Lord delivered and redeemed them, and based on that remembrance to treat others, especially the helpless and marginalized in the land, differently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As followers of Jesus we would do well to remember. Even though it has been defeated once and for all on the cross, sin still lurks inside each one of us, and because it does we are each prone to think that we are more righteous than we are. None of us sees ourselves with perfect clarity, and it can be so easy for any one of us to fall into self-righteousness, judgmentalism, and pride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we remember our state before God delivered and redeemed us from spiritual slavery to sin through Christ, it changes the way we see and treat other people! We cannot simultaneously remember the way we have been rescued by sheer grace and hold on to any sort of self-righteous attitude towards others. We cannot remember how spiritually poor we were apart from Jesus and at the same time not be moved with compassion for those who are still poor, whether spiritually or materially.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is so important for us to remember! When we remember the grace of God towards us in Christ, we are excited for that grace and extend it towards others!<\/p>\n\n\n\n