“Hear, O Israel; The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (The Hebrew Shema) – Deuteronomy 6:4-9
When God delivers us, He delivers us into relationship. In other words, God rescues us for a reason! Once the people of Israel experienced God’s amazing deliverance, they were ready to begin afresh with a relationship to the One who had set them free. You see, God is not only our Creator…He is our Sustainer. He is not only the Author of our faith…He is the finisher. He did not create the world and walk “away”…He created the world to “walk with”. So, all of this wondrous work of God happens in the context of relationship. It is something that we have seen from the beginning when God walked in the garden with Adam and Eve. Fellowship…communion…beautiful.
Throughout the Scriptures, God used the people of Israel to illustrate this relationship. He chose them for the purpose of blessing the whole world (we read in Genesis 12) with this picture of what He is like and to unveil His plan for all of us.
Today we see that once we have been set free, God also provides guiding principles to healthy relationships to God and to each other. For example, He gives them the ten commandments which are the basic foundation of respect, loyalty, and commitment. The first four commandments are about our relationship with God and the last 6 guide our relationships with others.
In the Scripture above, Moses tells the people at the edge of the promised land that it is all about being in love with God. This involves trusting Him and His Word. By the way, this is not new. God has not changed. We are still given the choice to “trust” God and what He has said…and we are still tempted to be suspicious and doubt His design and direction. “Did God really say…?”
Love and trust have always been inseparable. If we love God, we trust Him and what He says. We follow His lead. We obey His commands. Not because we have to, but because we want to. Loving God shows itself in walking by “faith” in the God who loves us! Jesus says simply,
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” – John 14:15
How important is this? Moses says to the people that knowing God’s desires and design for us, His Word, is so important that it should always be on our thoughts. To know who we are and why we are here is key for us to experience the life we were made for. This guidance from God…these commandments are not burdensome to us because we are madly in love with the God who gives them to us! Nothing gives us greater joy and peace than being right with our heavenly Father.
We find ourselves talking about it more and more. When we are sitting around…when we are walking down the road…when we talk to our kids…constantly! Why? We love Him! And we know…believe…have faith that God loves us. Therefore, we follow His lead. We can trust Him.
Is this your story? It can be.