So All Goes Well

What is the purpose of God’s Word, His commands? Are they just words on the page, rules for us to follow? Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10, NASB).” God wants us to have abundant life. Paul wrote in Romans 15:13, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

An abundant life, peace, and contentment will not be found in this world. “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever (1 John 2:7, NIV).” At the core of an abundant life is a heart for God. In Exodus we learn that the Israelites, after they left Egypt, became discontent and desired the old things they knew in Egypt. Because they lacked a heart for the things of God, they missed out on His promise to bring them to the promised land. We too will miss out on God’s promises if we fail to focus on God’s Word and His commandments.

In Deuteronomy 6, Moses continues his discourse to the second generation of Israelites before they cross into the promised land. He reminds them of the reason for God’s commandments: “that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you…(3).” Moses instructs them, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” This is the scripture Jesus later quotes when asked what is the greatest commandment (Mark 12:30).

Then Moses tells them the importance of keeping God’s word, His commandments, ever present in their life. He tells them to teach them, to talk about them “when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up (7).” Moses tells them to have God’s commandments visible as a sign, a reminder of His Word: “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates (8).”

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12 (NASB)