Some say the church today has lost its discipline and at times its’ reverence for God. Today we continue to look at the need for discipline and the importance of respect and reverence to the One True God. In the last two verses of chapter five…

32 So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. 33 Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.

The only way to be happy is to be Holy. For those who are righteous their days will be happy. The believer should delight in study of and keeping the commandments of the Lord God. Now we will move onto chapter six. There is a persuasive to obedience, exhortation to obedience, obedience taught and the sharing of the precepts, along with instructions to be given to their children. We will break this chapter down into four sections.

Verses 1-3

The “commandments” denote the moral law, the “statues” the ceremonial law and the “judgements” the law as decided by judges. Moses taught only that which God commanded him to teach. We are reminded of that principle in

Matthew 28:20 – teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

It is a good thing that there is a fear of the Lord in us and even in our children. Because religious faith and righteousness advance and secure the prosperity of any people. The great commandment is found in these next verses.

Verses 4-5

Deuteronomy

4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.

You might say these are the first principles of faith and obedience. Jehovah, the true and living God, the only God, He is the one God.  There is the unity of the Godhead. Happy are we to have this one God, we desire no other. We all know this is the first and great commandment, we are to love Him, and all things we do as our duty to him are to be done in love. To love God with all our heart, soul and might means we do so not just by word and tongue but inwardly with truth and strength of heart. He is to be loved above all things. To love Him with intelligence and the understanding of why it is we have such good cause to love Him.

Verses 6-16

These verses will give us the things we must do to maintain our religion within our hearts and houses.

  1. Meditation…the word of God must be in our hearts in a way that our thoughts and actions reflect the power of God’s word.
  2. The religious education of children, being careful and exact in teaching them. Repeat things to them, taking care to teach these truths to them and to all under your care.
  3. When talking of these things you must be pious, reverent and serious. Do this for the benefit of your children, friends and companions, taking all opportunities to share the plain truths and laws of God and things that bring you peace.
  4. Reading and studying of the word on a regular basis, telling them to write the words of the law on their walls, in scrolls of parchment worn on their wrists and head. The intent being that the word was always available to them, it was familiar to them, thus keeping us from sin and directing us in our duties. A warning to not forget God in times of plenty, not allowing ourselves to become complacent and unmindful of the Giver. There is always the danger that good times will tempt us to neglect our Christian duties, we must guard against this. We should never be ashamed of our religion nor seek to remove ourselves from its duties.

Verses 17-25

It is important to be religious, without diligence we will miss our salvation. Living a Holy Life is wise, it must be our way of life. Godliness is the way to comfort in the life we now live, we must live our life for God’s glory. Having a spiritual mind helps us to understand the goodness of the holy law of God and shows the sinfulness of man requires a relationship with a Savior to prepare his heart for salvation. There is a plan here and it is simple in its direction. We must honor the law and be in perfect obedience to His Son, Jesus Christ. There is also the need to bring back those who have fallen away, offering them repentance, faith, forgiveness and the renewing love and grace of God.

I have enjoyed these chapters in Deuteronomy and plan to continue them. I am leaving next week’s blog open for now to explore some other areas of scripture. I get few comments or feedback and would appreciate your opinion as to what you would like to explore. You can comment at the bottom of this blog or send me an email  kcarp4211@gmail.com

Life is Good

jk