Deuteronomy 6:7

And you shall teach them dillegently to your sons 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 up

     The book of Deuteronomy is a giving of the Law.  When God gave the Israelites the Law He also left instructions for how and when to teach the Law.  Here in the very beginning of the book He gives instructions to fathers on how to teach their children.  God tells them that they need to be teaching this Law to their sons diligently.  It is not meant to be casual but instead a focus of the family life.

     God commands them that they need to be teaching this all day long.  It needs to be taught at night and in the morning.  The father’s need to instruct their children when they are traveling afar or sitting at home.  Even when they may be out in the field working God’s word needs to be shared.  God even goes so far as to say that it is the first thing that needs to be discussed when you wake up and the last thing to talk about when you go to sleep.  Every facet of their lives needed to be directed toward God. 

     Even though we are under a new law this same principal applies to us today.  However, it is not just a matter of parent’s teaching their children.  As Christians God’s Word should permeate our lives no matter who it is we are talking to.  As we go about our day we should be focusing on God and His Word, hoping to teach our children, our friends, and even ourselves more about God’s word.  In order to do this we need to make sure and keep God as a priority in our thoughts.  It is easy to loose track of God in our thoughts and to let hours and even days pass by without thinking or talking about Him.  We must be diligent to focus on our Lord. 

And you shall teach them dillegently to your sons 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 up

James 3:16

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.

     One night I went to a free exhibition put on by a professional basketball team. They did some drills and then scrimmaged and some fans were able to just come and watch them at no charge. It was very enjoyable until the end. The players started throwing things into the stands for fans: the pullover jerseys, towels, and their autographed shoes that they had worn that night. As they through a shoe into the audience a very elderly lady was estatic to find that it landed right in her hands.

     As she started to get excited, all of the sudden a middle age woman reached over and grabbed it out of her hands. She pulled so hard that she broke fingernails and blood vessels in the elderly womans hands. While the elderly woman was excited, she decided it was not worth all of that pain. Those who saw the whole thing play out stood with jaws agape. They could not believe that she would do that. It was something you would expect from little children when their parents were not looking, not from a middle aged woman.

     It is amazing the depths  we will sink in order to get what we want. What the woman did was appalling both for what she did, but also because it was so public and she showed no penitance. Yet we can be just as selfish in our actions and attitudes. We can manipulate people, lie to them, steal from them and use them to fulfill what we want. Yet we justify it because no one noticed. That is not right. We need to be completely honest with ourselves and make sure that when we act, we act righteously with love towards our neighbors.

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.

1 Samuel 17:37

And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you.”

     The story of David and Goliath is used so often today that at times it tarnishes the meaning. Think about how many times it is used pertaining to sports. Sometimes it is used when two athletes of varying size compete, which at least has some relevance. Often times, though, it is used for a team that supposedly outmatches the other in every area. It has been relegated to a story of long odds.

     It would be dangerous to think that just any common day situation, especially sports, is equivalant to David and Goliath. It is not as if David out hustled Goliath. It’s not as though David had a few lucky bounces go his way. Instead it was the power of the almighty God that brought victory. David’s faith in the Lord was truly the key. Had he relied on his own power, he would have surely lost. Yet by leaning on the strength of the Lord, David was able to overcome. This is vastly different than how must people use the story today.

     As Christians we can take hope in David’s victory. We do have a similar situation ourselves. We have an intimidating enemy as well. That enemy is Satan. He is walking about as a roaring lion, trying to devour us. If we were to rely on our own strength, there is no doubt that we would fail. Yet we do not have to trust ourselves. We can be like David and trust in the Lord to help us overcome. Like David, we still have to face the enemy and fight. But if we realize that we have God’s power on our side, we have the assurance of victory.

 And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and may the LORD be with you.”

Isaiah 57:10

You were tired out by the length of your road, {Yet} you did not say, ‘It is hopeless.’ You found renewed strength, Therefore you did not faint.

     In this passage, the Lord is condemning the people of Israel for their adulterous nature. Yet it is not that they commit adultery against their wives. Instead they were committing adultery against God. They would go and serve idols. Yet even with idols it sometimes became difficult to serve. God noticed their determination to serve these other gods. Somehow they found the will power to keep moving, to keep doing what their “god” had laid out for them.

     This is one of those Old Testament scriptures that can easily fit us today. It is amazing the strength with which some people hold on to sin. It may be the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, or the pride of life, but they cling to it. They refuse to let it go. No matter how much it hurts them or the people around them, the maintain the course and follow sin. It is quite sad to see. Not only that but it is also sad to see the strength with which people will use in physical pursuits. These battles that mean very little in the long wrong are the focus of people’s lives.

     Even sadder is when someone focuses on these things and yet never put even that much effort into their walk of God. As we read this passage, we should say, “Oh may my faith be that strong!” Yet the passage actually refers to the faith that people have in the wrong things. We need to look at what we are putting our energy to. We need to see what it is that we refuse to give up. And above all, we need to make sure that we have the mindset of perserverance in serving God rather than sin.

You were tired out by the length of your road, {Yet} you did not say, ‘It is hopeless.’ You found renewed strength, Therefore you did not faint.

Psalm 25:10

All the path’s of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth to those who keep His covenant and His testimonies

     In movies we see that it is very dangerous to irritate the hero.  Many times the antagonist will threaten the heroes family or life or something equally foolish.  The rest of the movie goes on to show that that was an incredibly bad idea.  However, we find out that it is good to be on the heroes side.  There is usually somebody he protects or takes under his wing.  The morals of the stories tell us how important it is to be on the winning side. 

     The Psalmist tells us in this chapter that we need to be on God’s side.  Whenever we are on God’s side, He watches over and takes care of us.  In order to be on God’s team we need to obey His laws.  When we follow covenant, it guides us into the paths of righteousness and mercy.  Not only that but we also have the benefit of His love.  With that, we know that everything will be taken care of.  We need not worry whenever God takes us under His wing. 

     The opposite is true for those who would disobey God.  They will find that their sin will lead them to destruction.  First off, by going against the testimonies of the Lord their way will be troubled and they will fall often.  On top of that, their disobedience is a slap in the face against God.  If they refuse to repent then this will surely bring God’s judgment.  For those who will obey God they will receive His grace, but those who disobey will find His wrath. 

All the path’s of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth to those who keep His covenant and His testimonies

Proverbs 22:25

Or you will learn his ways And find a snare for yourself.

     One summer I lived with a family of six. It was a wonderful experience as I was able to truly get to know them. One of them had a habit that when something was funny, they would laugh and say, “That is so funny,” or something similar. Well, by the end of the summer, I was doing the exact same thing. I did not even realize I was doing it until I went back to college and someone noticed for me. I wondered where I had picked it up and remembered staying with this family.

      This is one of many instances in my life where I have learned and adapted behaviors from those who I have associated with. The more I am around them, the more they rub off on me. What is amazing about this is that it is not a conscious decision that we will start behaving like this. Just by our association with these people, I started changing the way that I behaved.

     The Proverb author here warns that this is why we should be careful who we associate with. If we spend time with the wrong people, we will start to be like them if we are not mindful of what we are doing. It may be that we are looking back at sinful behaviors, attitudes or thoughts and wondering where those even came from. While we should not completely avoid the world, we do need to be aware of the influence they can have over us. We need to make sure that God’s actions are the one’s that we imitate rather than the world’s.

Or you will learn his ways And find a snare for yourself.

Titus 2:11

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,

     Sin is a terrible thing. It is an offense against God. You might even say that it is a slap in the face to our Creator. Some of our sins seem even worse than others. We look at the sin in our lives and we wonder how that could have been us doing that. We often times cannot believe the depth of our sin. When we finally come face to face with what all we have done, it can and should be a terribly frightening experience.

     Many times in these moments, our desire is to run away from God. We look at our sin and we cannot believe that He would possibly have it within Him to forgive us. Yet what Paul tells Titus here should give us great hope. God’s grace extends to all men. There is no one from which God has witheld His mercy. It is there for all man, not matter what terrible deed they have done.

     The examples of Paul and David should give us hope in this regard. One commited adultery, and then murdered in order to cover it up. The latter brought his full might against God’s people and persecuted the church. And yet these two men are upheld as the standard for Christians. Not only were they forgiven, they went on to do great things for the kingdom of God. We too can have full confidence then that if we would just humbly seek the Lord, He will use us to glorify His kingdom as well.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,

Matthew 25:26

“But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.

     The parable of the talents is one that is used often and with good cause. The story has many lessons that we can learn from it. In it we see that a master has entrusted various servants with various amounts of money while he is gone. The servant with one talent takes his and he hides it. When the master returns, he pulls it from the hiding spot, showing it to the Lord and expecting a reward. In his explanation of why he did not earn more like his two compatriots, he said that he knew that his master was harsh and that he reaped where he did not so.

     What happens next is truly ironic. The master uses the slaves own words for why he deserves judgment. The slave knew what type of man his master was and what his master required. Yet he did not follow what he knew. Instead he just decided that he was going to hide it. The problem for the slave is that when he came up before the master and offered this defense, he actually trapped himself. He no longer had an excuse. He already admitted knowing what the master desired.

     For those who have already obeyed the gospel, we too know what our Master desires. He has not made His will a secret to us. Instead He has given us His word so that we might be able to obey. Knowing that should cause us to be on guard. On the day of judgment, we too will be without excuse. We will not be able to say that we did not know His word. Knowing this we must strive to obey all that He commanded so that He will say to us, “Well done.”

“But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.

Jeremiah 31:33

“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

     Growing up, I remember that one of my prized possessions was a toy sword that was a replica from a television show. I loved that thing. I would play with it all the time. When my friends would come over and we would play our war games, everyone wanted to use my sword. However, I really did not want to share. It probably took a mandate by my parents to get me to allow other people to use it. It was mine and I wanted to keep it that way.

    The possessive nature that we have toward our precious belongings is a wonderful illustration for our relationship with God. God declared that those who would come under His new covenant, those who would obey Him, they would be His people. The Lord is possessive of those who are His. This should be of great comfort. God is not going to sale us at a garage sale or casually give us to a friend. Instead He will cling to us ferociously, claiming that we are His and He will not share.

     Considering how badly Satan desires our souls, having a God who will offer us such protection is very comforting. Satan is always trying to worm us away from God. Yet we have a God who will not let Him. He will hold to us tightly. And since He is the Creator of all, there is nothing that Satan or anyone else can do that can cause us to be taken from Him. Truly the only way for us to no longer be His is if we leave. Praise the Lord that He desires us so.

“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.