This chapter is so good, I want to paste in the entire thing. Unfortunately, I have to narrow it down a little… so please read the entire thing.
“The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous… when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.” (v9-14 abr)
This is incredibly encouraging: the long and complex list of laws, that seem impossible to remember, are within our reach. The reason these things are within reach is because the entire law can be summarized by the two greatest commandments – love the Lord your God with all your heart, strength, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as Christ loves the church.
God tells us more than 50 times in scripture to keep His commandments. Why bother keeping the commandments if works cannot save us? Because it is a sign of our love for Him. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (Jn 14:15) “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 Jn 5:3)
Therefore, if the commandments say to love the Lord our God, and we show our love for God by keeping His commands, then by fulfilling the commandments we are loving God and by loving God we are fulfilling the commandments. It’s that simple, it is achievable, and it is not burdensome to do so.
When we keep the commandments, Paul reminds us that we cannot save ourselves by doing so: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph 2:8-9) Works alone (keeping the commandments) are not enough, only our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus our Lord and Savior, and God’s grace and mercy can save us from eternal separation from God.
My challenge today is to continue relying on the strength of God and our faith to help us keep God’s commandments. We cannot do it on our own, nor should we try. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” (Pro 3:5-6)
Father God, Almighty King we praise Your holy name. You are mighty in Your words and deeds. We call upon Your Spirit for guidance and strength in keeping Your commandments. Please help us to fully love You in accordance with Your command, and please help us to Keep Your commands out of love for You. Jesus, thank you for modeling this behavior for us, that we have Your example to follow. In the name of our Lord and Savior we praise You, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training