10:12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, 10:13 To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? 10:14 Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens [is] the LORD'S thy God, the earth [also], with all that therein [is]. 10:15 Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, [even] you above all people, as [it is] this day. 10:16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked. 10:17 For the LORD your God [is] God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: 10:18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. 10:19 Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. 10:20 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. 10:21 He [is] thy praise, and he [is] thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen. 10:22 Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude. Pursuing Simplicity
Many of us who walk with the Lord allow our lives to become more complicated than they need to be or ought to be. The more I read Scripture, the more I'm convinced that simplicity is a worthwhile goal for the Christian. It isn't something our world urges us to pursue, but it seems to be a mark of those who have walked with the Lord.
Life seems increasingly complicated, and the twists and turns keep us from living simply. The complications of everyday life infect all of life. Before we know it, everything is complicated including walking with Jesus. How do we escape all the complicated hurdles that keep us from walking with the Lord? Again, as I read the Scriptures, I come to the conclusion that pursuing simplicity is simpler than we think.
Moses gives us a path to simplicity in his recital of God's expectations to the Israelites at their impending entrance to the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 10:12-22). He sums up God's expectations for His people in four words: fear, love, serve and keep. The expectations that go with the words are simple. They'll help us avoid many of life's complications if we'll choose to live them out.
FEAR the Lord your God, is the first step to simplicity. God asks us to respect Him enough to never bring disrepute on His name. We want to hold Him in high reverence and do nothing to damage His reputation.
LOVE the Lord your God, is the second step in the pursuit of simplicity. God asks us to love Him more than anyone or anything else. To love God with all our hearts and souls is to give Him the place He deserves in our lives. That love for God will protect us from many of the complications our world can throw at us.
SERVE the Lord your God takes us another step toward simple living. When He has first place in our lives, serving is as natural as waking up every morning. It's not complicated. We listen for direction and do what He asks of us. We serve Him because we have great reverence for Him and because we love Him. -- KEEP the Lord your God First in ALL things. Think About This: Grace is something you can never get but can only be given. There's no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about anymore than you can deserve the taste of raspberries and cream or earn good looks. A good night's sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace. Somebody loving you is grace. -- Frederick Buechner |
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