September 13, 2013
GOD CALLS US TO OBEY HIS COMMANDMENTS, SO WE MAY PROSPER IN ALL WE DO!
Deuteronomy 6:1-15
David Newcombe
Central Truth
We must believe EVERY word that proceeds from the mouth of God. When God says all, HE MEANS ALL!
Key Verse | Deuteronomy 6:5
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." (Deuteronomy 6:5)
Deuteronomy 6:1-15
The Greatest Commandment
1 Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules 1 6:1 Or just decrees; also verse 20 —that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 2 6:4 Or The LORD our God is one LORD; or The LORD is our God, the LORD is one; or The LORD is our God, the LORD alone 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 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. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10 And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, 12 then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. 14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— 15 for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.
Dive Deeper | Deuteronomy 6:1-15
This passage is a command from God Almighty to love Him above anything and everything else. It's a difficult concept when viewed from our human perspective, since there are many things that compete for our love. But we know it's the most important thing we could do! Jesus says in Matthew 22:37-38 that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind. Loving God with everything we have is the ONLY way to really love Him!
Before I became a disciple of Jesus Christ, my love was superficial and conditional. But God revealed His love for me in sending His Son to pay my sin debt. He transformed my "David-made love" into a Christ-centered love! Without His love in me, I could never manufacture a love like His love. He transformed me into an image in which His genuine love flows through me to others. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, I learned how to love Him with all my heart, soul, and mind. My wife, children, and others receive the results of His love, and it's more than enough!
The Lord does not ask us to do something that He doesn't model Himself. We're commanded in Ephesians 5:1 to be imitators of God as beloved children. The Apostle Paul describes the excellence of love in 1 Corinthians 13:1-8. And 1 John 4:8 tells us that God IS love!
Loving God needs to take complete priority in our lives, but it isn't always easy. In Matthew 10:37-38, Jesus says that people who love their father, mother, son, or daughter more than they love Him, aren't worthy of Him. In Deuteronomy 6:15, God warns the Israelites against giving their love to any other gods, for He is a jealous God and would discipline them harshly for doing that.
When we love God fully and our hearts fully belong to God, He supports us! In 2 Chronicles 16:9a we read that "the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His."
My prayer is that His eyes would stop on you!
Discussion Questions
1. What do you love? If your answer is something or someone other than God, reread Deuteronomy 6:1-15!
2. Did you know before today what the Lord desires from His children? If not, what do you need to do in order to experience the fullness of His love?
3. Read John 14:15 and 14:21. How does your life measure up to the standards Jesus expresses in these passages? According to Jesus, what does that say about the condition of your heart?