“And now, Israel, listen carefully to these decrees and regulations that I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you may live, so you may enter and occupy the land
that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.”
Deuteronomy 4:1
“And now, listen carefully…” With those words, Moses opened his heart. For the next several chapters we hear the plea of a man who spent forty years of his life shepherding this family…a man who often interceded to spare their lives. Now at the door of the Promised Land, Moses knew he could go no further. The people he loved were entering without him. No wonder his instructions sound like those of a father on his death-bed. Moses had received the commandments he was about to review from the very hand of God.
Oh, the tenderness in Moses’ voice as he pleaded, “Obey…so you that you may live, so you may enter and occupy the land.” Obeying was the only way they could enter and live the life GOD intended for them. But even more, Moses pleaded with his people to understand obedience was a privilege…
“What great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us…” and who “has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair…?” (v. 7-8) You can obey a God who longs for relationship and whose rules secure the privilege of that relationship.
Can we hear that same plea of love from our Father today?
I want you near to Me…please obey My rules and live!
