DEVOTIONAL
Moses, the leader of God’s nation, left the younger generation with one final message. Moses was a humble man, a man that loved the Lord and longed to walk in all His ways. He remembered the people’s unbelief 40 years earlier — a time when the people revolted against Him refusing to believe that the Lord was able to drive out all the people of Canaan and give them the land that was promised to them. They neglected to remember that just two years prior the Lord had destroyed the Egyptian army, one of the most powerful armies of that time. Therefore, because of unbelief, the Lord turned His unfaithful nation into the wilderness to wander for 40 years until that entire generation died.
Now, while Moses was standing in front of the promise land with the younger generation, he reaffirmed to them the entire law. He spoke of the Lord’s eternal holiness, His divine justice, and His sovereign power by which He governs the world. Then he said to the people of Israel, “Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law. For it is not an idle word for you; indeed, it is your life.” After he finished speaking these words, the Lord told him, “Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel for a possession. Then die on the mountain where you ascend and be gathered to your people.” So, Moses ascended the Mountain as the Lord told him and breathed his last breath.
May these final words of Moses pierce the heart of every believer like a flaming sword. For the word of the Lord alone gives life, and it is a special grace given by the Lord to His beloved children to guide them in a fallen world. Let us not be deceived about sin for one minute, for though the believer has been forgiven through the blood of Christ, sin still bears a consequence in this lifetime. Paul tells us in his letter to the Roman church, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness.” Remember, obedience and reverence out of a heart of worship to the Lord, is far better than going through the formalities of religion. May we as a church be resolved to begin this year making the word of God our greatest delight. “Oh that our hearts would long to meditate upon God’s law day and night so that we would be like a tree planted near streams of water bring forth fruit in its proper season.” (Psalm 1: 2-3)
Rodney Nantz
“Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully, even all the words of this law. For it is not an idle word for you; indeed, it is your life.”
Deuteronomy 32: 46-47 NASBS