10/30/18
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.
Our Psalm this week told us of the blessed state of those who trust the Lord. How do we learn this trust? Our Old Testament reading, Deuteronomy 6:1-9, sheds some light on it. Here God commands his people to hear His Word and follow it. In exchange, God promises a land which is full of His provision.
But how is this to be done? It’s centered on God’s identity. He is the one God, the Lord, the particular God of Israel, who is the Lord specifically of each person in Israel. This God, and nobody else, is to be their God. When we create for ourselves substitute gods we will find they fail. Those substitutes like our self-preservation, our opinion, popular wisdom, or an adoption of the best parts of various religions will not be reliable. The very particular God of Israel calls his people to himself. He has also called all nations, so that particular call is intended for every person on the planet.
What does it look like to live as the people of God? We are, according to verse five, to love God with everything we have. We keep his words in our heart (v. 6). We tell our children and everyone else about God’s Word (v. 7). We make reminders of God and His character so we will not forget (vv. 8-9). Granted, this counsel is lacking in specific details, but it has enough to direct us for now.
What is God’s promise to his people? He will keep them, prosper them, and make them to multiply in the land He gives them. Trusting God is good for his people. When we love God and spread his Word around, we find that we are his people and he is our God.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the three-year lectionary.
Our Psalm this week told us of the blessed state of those who trust the Lord. How do we learn this trust? Our Old Testament reading, Deuteronomy 6:1-9, sheds some light on it. Here God commands his people to hear His Word and follow it. In exchange, God promises a land which is full of His provision.
But how is this to be done? It’s centered on God’s identity. He is the one God, the Lord, the particular God of Israel, who is the Lord specifically of each person in Israel. This God, and nobody else, is to be their God. When we create for ourselves substitute gods we will find they fail. Those substitutes like our self-preservation, our opinion, popular wisdom, or an adoption of the best parts of various religions will not be reliable. The very particular God of Israel calls his people to himself. He has also called all nations, so that particular call is intended for every person on the planet.
What does it look like to live as the people of God? We are, according to verse five, to love God with everything we have. We keep his words in our heart (v. 6). We tell our children and everyone else about God’s Word (v. 7). We make reminders of God and His character so we will not forget (vv. 8-9). Granted, this counsel is lacking in specific details, but it has enough to direct us for now.
What is God’s promise to his people? He will keep them, prosper them, and make them to multiply in the land He gives them. Trusting God is good for his people. When we love God and spread his Word around, we find that we are his people and he is our God.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
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