"You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him."
--Deuteronomy 13:4 (NKJV)
From the daily Bible reading on April 5, 2013 of Psalm 69:19-29; Romans 5:12-21; Deuteronomy 13-15:11.
Since he will not be able to lead them himself, Moses is still trying to prepare the people for their entry into the Promised Land. In this section of scripture, as in many other passages, Moses is warning the people against worshiping other gods, not to listen to anyone that tries to draw them away from God. He starts out with false prophets and "dreamers of dreams" that may give signs and wonders, prophesies that may indeed come to pass but that are intended only to give credibility to the misleading words of the one trying to entice the people to serve other gods. He talks about those even of the children of Israel who may go out and corrupt entire cities to leave God. And in between these two possible scenarios, Moses cautions the people against one that breaks the heart: the corrupter may be a close relative - a brother, a son or daughter, a wife - or a close friend, one that tries to convince them to worship and serve gods they have not known. In each case, the penalty for the offender was death! It was to be considered a capital offense to try to draw someone away from God. That's pretty harsh punishment, but the intent was clear: to ensure that the children of Israel would follow the Lord and respect Him, that they would obey Him and serve Him, and keep faith in Him and Him alone.
In verse five of this passage, Moses orders that the one who tries to "entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk" must be put to death so that "you shall put away the evil from your midst". The dire warning that Moses raises in this chapter thirteen must still be sounded today, for it holds especially true in our increasingly hedonistic and immoral culture. Everywhere we look there are baits set by Satan to lure us away from our Lord and Savior. The media entice us with images of great wealth and physical pleasure if we just follow some different lifestyle. Attractions and events catch our attention with offers of greater excitement than any church service could match. Advertisers promise we could have all the money or possessions or sexual liaisons we could ever want if we simply buy their products. All of these appeal to a people living in misery, promising great rewards, promising happiness. But the great irony is that only those who walk after the Lord and fear Him and obey Him, who serve Him and only Him, who hold fast to Him with all their being, only these will find true and everlasting happiness. Only Jesus can fill the holes and empty spaces in our life. Only Jesus can fill us with happiness.
All of these temptations of the world beckon us to do things that would be unpleasing to our Lord, to leave the path Jesus laid that leads to God, to serve the gods of convenience and pleasure and greed. All are traps laid by Satan to pull us in, a vain attempt to rob Jesus of His victory. We must heed the warning issued so long ago and put these attractions to the death! We must turn from them as if they don't exist. If we need help doing so all we have to do is turn to Christ Jesus in prayer, because through Him we have the strength to do all things (please see Philippians 4:13). Whatever it takes, we must do as Moses commands and put away this evil from our midst. Serve the Lord your God. Amen.
Dear Lord, we pray for Your strength and Your help that we might resist the mighty temptations of the world. We know that while we must live in this world, we must not be of the world. Help us, please Father, to recognize and avoid the snares and pitfalls that Satan lays along our path. Help us resist the attractive lures the evil one baits us with. May we serve You and only You, O Lord and Savior. In the holy name of Jesus we beseech You and we pray. Amen.
In verse five of this passage, Moses orders that the one who tries to "entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk" must be put to death so that "you shall put away the evil from your midst". The dire warning that Moses raises in this chapter thirteen must still be sounded today, for it holds especially true in our increasingly hedonistic and immoral culture. Everywhere we look there are baits set by Satan to lure us away from our Lord and Savior. The media entice us with images of great wealth and physical pleasure if we just follow some different lifestyle. Attractions and events catch our attention with offers of greater excitement than any church service could match. Advertisers promise we could have all the money or possessions or sexual liaisons we could ever want if we simply buy their products. All of these appeal to a people living in misery, promising great rewards, promising happiness. But the great irony is that only those who walk after the Lord and fear Him and obey Him, who serve Him and only Him, who hold fast to Him with all their being, only these will find true and everlasting happiness. Only Jesus can fill the holes and empty spaces in our life. Only Jesus can fill us with happiness.
All of these temptations of the world beckon us to do things that would be unpleasing to our Lord, to leave the path Jesus laid that leads to God, to serve the gods of convenience and pleasure and greed. All are traps laid by Satan to pull us in, a vain attempt to rob Jesus of His victory. We must heed the warning issued so long ago and put these attractions to the death! We must turn from them as if they don't exist. If we need help doing so all we have to do is turn to Christ Jesus in prayer, because through Him we have the strength to do all things (please see Philippians 4:13). Whatever it takes, we must do as Moses commands and put away this evil from our midst. Serve the Lord your God. Amen.
Dear Lord, we pray for Your strength and Your help that we might resist the mighty temptations of the world. We know that while we must live in this world, we must not be of the world. Help us, please Father, to recognize and avoid the snares and pitfalls that Satan lays along our path. Help us resist the attractive lures the evil one baits us with. May we serve You and only You, O Lord and Savior. In the holy name of Jesus we beseech You and we pray. Amen.
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