What to Do?

| April 26, 2010

I was reading in the book of Deuteronomy the other day and came across one of my favorite passages.  Many times I get asked something along the lines of, “What do I need to do as a Christian?”  Well, it’s laid out pretty nicely in Deuteronomy 10:12-13.

And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

A lot of times as Christians, we get caught up in trying to follow man-made traditions and requirements.  We think we have to do certain things in order to please God and begrudgingly follow a strict routine every day.  Working with kids, I get to hear a great deal of child-like stories of faith, but I also hear a lot of legalistic talk they’ve picked up.  Some kids gain fear of an angry, vengeful deity waiting to hurl down lighting on them because they didn’t eat their vegetables (ok, I might be exaggerating a little, but it’s pretty close to some of what kids tell me!).

To me, this passage is saying to keep it simple, to get back to the basics.  What do we need to do as Christians?  Well, God asks that we respect Him, follow Him, love Him, serve Him joyfully, and to obey His commands, the most important of which is to love Him and love others. 

Ever stop to think about how lucky we are compared to the Israelites in the desert?  Moses gave them instructions from God of which they were to follow.  Well, not only do we have written what God passed down to Moses, we have witness to Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, our ultimate example to follow.  Some people learn by seeing, some by hearing, some by doing.  I’m the type that really needs all three, which is why Jesus is so awesome, because we get to hear the Word, see Him in action in this world, and then He fills us with His Spirit to go accomplish His will!  How cool is that?

Don’t forget the last line of this passage, “for your own good.”  Why does God instruct us?  Because He LOVES US!  (Ask your kindergartener “what does Jesus do?” and they’ll be able to shout the answer for you!)