SCRIPTURE: Deuteronomy 17
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
“When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.” [Deuteronomy 17:18-20] This passage shows again how serious it is that God’s people stay true to God’s will and purpose. The reason that death is the penalty for sin, is because death is the consequence of sin. To go against God is to go against life. And not only does it kill the individual, it produces misery and death for others.
The opposite is also true. If we stay close to God and His will, or to use Jesus’ words, if we “remain” in Him, then we will experience life and blessing. We will reign with Him for a long time, or for eternity. We will receive all that we need and all that we ask for, when we are rooted in Him: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” [John 15:7]. According to Moses, the king needs to keep a written copy of God’s will close to his heart, to be with him always so that he faithfully follows that will. The words of God are to remain with and in him, if he is to succeed and prosper.
The message throughout the bible is that the Lord and His truth need to be front and center in our lives. To be in the Lord, and to allow the message of His written book to permeate our lives – is essentially the same thing. Both of them qualify a personal relationship with the Lord – just relating to God (prayer) or just reading the bible by itself is incomplete without the other. The Lord and His message go hand in hand. If we want to succeed, to prosper, to fulfill the Lord’s purpose for our lives, we need to keep Him and His truth close to our hearts, “to read it all the days of our lives”.
The blessing of doing so is increasing health, strength, confidence, success, blessing – everything we could ask for! The curse of not doing so is slow but certain misery and death. Life unravels apart from the Lord, and such a life takes down many others as well. Many people suffer when we stray from the Lord. THIS is why we need to purge this evil from our lives!
PRAYER:
Lord, sin is more serious than I realize. Help me to cling to You and Your message, and to strive to live according to it, with all Your strength in me.