August 20, 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 this chapter Moses presents the evidence which proves that the Lord\u2019s favor towards the people of Israel was not\u00a0because<\/em> of their righteousness, but\u00a0in spite\u00a0<\/em>of their unrighteousness. He reminds them that it is not because they were so righteous compared to the wicked nations they were dispossessing that the Lord gave them the land. It had nothing to do with their righteousness, because they had no righteousness to call their own!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moses then recounts the numerous times the people tested and rebelled against God over the 40 years since they had left Egypt. In spite of all that God had done for them, in spite of all the crazy miracles and signs and wonders and mind-blowing experiences of glory they had witnessed, the people were still continually rebellious against the Lord every step of the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s easy for us to sit back as we read these accounts and think \u201cWow, these people were so messed up!\u201d But it is vitally important for us to remember that we are more like the people of Israel than unlike them. In spite of His perfect faithfulness towards us, every one of us proves unfaithful to Him in some way or another each and every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This goes to show that it is never our goodness, our holiness, or our righteousness that gives us hope of God\u2019s favor towards us; it is only ever God\u2019s grace, His undeserved favor and kindness and generosity, that we can place our hope in! It is never our righteousness, and it is only ever the perfect righteousness of another, freely given to us as a gift of His grace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n