"And now,
O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in
all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all
your soul, and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today
for your own good?"
Almost the whole of the book of Deuteronomy is the farewell address of
Moses to the people of Israel. The Israelites are near the end of their long journey from
Egypt, just before crossing the Jordan into their promised land. In the verses just
preceding today’s passage, Moses recalled how the Lord had written the Ten
Commandments on stone tablets for them a second time. For while Moses was on the mountain
to receive the first set of Ten Commandments, Moses himself had smashed the tablets in
anger because the people had forsaken God and built an idol, the golden calf.
But the Lord forgave and rewrote his commandments, for them and for us.
And what the Lord requires, Moses’ words remind us, is that we act in his ways. As I
read and reread this passage, the closing words, "for your own good" resound.
There are other Bible passages, many in Deuteronomy, that counsel us to love God, serve
him, and obey his commandments. With that closing phrase, this one verse affirms the great
love that underlies the law.
Why should we serve the Lord with all our heart and all our soul?
Because he first loved us, and like a good parent, he set clear rules and expectations for
our behavior. We fail, because we are human, and God forgives, then outlines his
expectations again, just as he rewrote the Ten Commandments. In this season of Lent, we
prepare our hearts to receive God’s ultimate love in the person, life, death and
resurrection of Jesus.
