August 21, 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 finishes recalling the story of the disaster and covenant at Mt. Sinai before commanding the Israelites to do a strange thing. He tells the people of Israel that it is for their own good that they listen to, fear, obey, love, and serve the Lord. He tells them that God, who holds power and authority over every single thing that exists and who owns all of His creation, simply chose in His grace to lavish His love on their fathers and, subsequently, on them. In view of this amazing grace, Moses tells them that they must circumcise their hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Circumcision was the sign of the covenant that God made with Abraham. It was a symbol that physically set the people of God apart from every other people on the planet. Moses says that, in view of God\u2019s abundant mercy, unfailing love, and extravagant grace, the people are to circumcise their hearts, making their hearts distinct and set apart as holy unto the Lord! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The call is for us, in worshipful, grateful response to the love and grace of the Lord, to give our hearts wholly and completely to Him. It is for us to worship Him exclusively and to give Him His rightful place of supremacy in all our affections and desires and devotion!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The people of Israel failed to do this. Apart from the intervention of God\u2019s power and grace in our lives, none of us is able to do it. But now, in Christ and under the new covenant, the Holy Spirit has come and circumcised our hearts for us! Now, because of the power of the Spirit within us, we are empowered by him to give all of ourselves to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, just like the people of Israel, we do not receive this amazing gift of grace based on anything we have done, but simply because of God\u2019s choice to lavish His love on us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n