Finally, Moses starts preparing Israel for the time they have been waiting for: the time to enter the promised land! For 40 years, 2 1/2 million people (twice the population of metropolitan New Orleans) have been in transition. How bittersweet and emotional that 40 years must have been -- celebrating new life as babies were born, grieving the loss of loved ones who died, frequently moving from one place to another, and all the while awaiting a promise.
Just before it is time to move into the land God has promised, Moses takes the opportunity to prepare the people for the battle ahead. For while the land is theirs, they still must fight to take possession. The former residents of the promised land didn't just move out and put a sign out front saying "Welcome, it's all yours!". Moses warns that there will be challenges ahead. But he tells them how to prepare for the challenges:
Moses instructs the people in Deuteronomy 11: 11 - 28: The Lord says, ... 'You must love the LORD your God, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul. If you do that, I will send rain for your land at the right time ... You will have plenty to eat.' “Remember these commands I give you. Keep them in your hearts. Write them down and tie them on your hands and wear them on your foreheads ... Teach these laws to your children. Talk about these things when you sit in your houses, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. Write these commands on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates ... Be careful to obey every command I have told you to follow: Love the LORD your God, follow all his ways, and be faithful to him ... Today I am giving you a choice. You may choose the blessing or the curse. You will get the blessing if you listen and obey the commands of the LORD your God ... But you will get the curse if you refuse to listen and obey ...."
Love God. Obey him. Follow his commands. Be faithful. Remember his faithfulness. Teach future generations about his faithfulness, his promises, and his commands. Pretty simple instructions that made the difference in blessings in their lives and curses that would result from disobedience.
It's almost funny the way Moses tells them to remind themselves of God's laws. Keep them in your hearts, wear them on your foreheads, tie them on your hands, write them on your doorposts and on your gates. Kind of like we would put them on the refrigerator, place notes on our bathroom mirror, jot them in our calendar, make a screen saver with the notes, place reminders in our cell phones, write them on a post-it note.
God requires the same thing of us that he did of Israel. We too, must remember God's word each day. We, too, are facing battles. Our battles may be against the enemy of our souls. It may be that we are fighting for something that God has promised to us. God doesn't always deliver everything to us on a silver platter -- sometimes he requires us to fight! He may have made us a promise, but we may be having to fight to attain it. I believe when we are pursuing the promises of God, he would assure us as Moses did Israel in Deuteronomy 31 : 6 : "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid . . . , for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Is your promise in sight? Do you have a glimpse of what he has promised you? You may have obstacles to overcome, but if God has promised it to you, it is yours! I don't know about you, but I plan to serve God, armed with his word in my heart, so that I can attain that which he has for me!
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