MAY 12, 2014
Words
To Live By
Read: Deuteronomy 4:1-9
Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments . . . that you
should act according to them. —Deuteronomy 4:5
For
many years I’ve maintained a file folder labeled “Speaking.” It has become
thick with articles, quotations, and illustrations that might be useful.
Recently I went through it to discard things that are out of date. I found it
difficult to throw away many of the items, not because I haven’t used them in a
talk but because I haven’t put them into practice. I closed the folder
thinking, “These aren’t words to talk about; these are words to live by.”
After
40 years in the desert, Moses addressed the people poised to enter the Promised
Land: “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach
you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the
Lord God of your fathers is giving you” (Deut. 4:1). Moses’ repeated theme
(vv.1,2,5,6,9) is that God’s commandments are to be kept. He said it well,
“Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments . . . that you should act
according to them” (v.5).
It
is so easy to talk about doing more than we actually do and to speak about
truth we’re not living by. We can become bloated with words, yet starved for
reality, forgetting that all of God’s commands flow from His heart of love for
us.
Help us, Lord, not to be just hearers of the Word;
help us to be doers as well. Teach us to be honest
with ourselves about who we really are. We want
to walk in Your ways and to guide others to You.
The strength of our actions should match the strength of our
words.
Insight
Far
from being a burden, the commands God gave to the Israelites were life-giving.
They outlined a life lived in response to His love. In today’s text, Moses reminded
the Israelites that the commands were for their wisdom and understanding (v.6).
The result of living by the words of the Lord would be that the nations around
them would recognize the one true God (vv.7-8).
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
