Law – Deuteronomy 4-6

When you woke up this morning, what were the first words you spoke?

Let us imagine ourselves to be Israelites (physical, not just spiritual) for the day. That means reciting the shema when we wake up. It goes like this:

Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is One

(Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad)

This shema is found in our passage for today but it does not stand alone. It is followed by the following:

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Do you know where these words are from? Let’s read to find out.

Bible Passage:  Deuteronomy 4-6

The shema is a truly rousing call to the Chosen of the LORD don’t you think? As a believer of God, do you feel its compelling force? If you do (and should), what is your response then?

My study Bible tells me that the word ‘love’ in this context can be translated to mean ‘to make one’s choice in’. Thus, in response to this call, we really should make the choice to love the LORD our God in the following ways.

Heart – Love Him as a lover

Because I’ve never been in an exclusive relationship personally, I sometimes (alright, alright, most times 🙂 roll my eyes and shake my head at the behaviour of people in love. However, regardless of my personal feelings, there are spiritual lessons we can learn if we use this behaviour to reflect upon our relationship with God.

Let’s first look at some very natural actions of people in love (bear in mind what I said earlier about not having personal experience so forgive me if my depictions don’t sound authentic).

You just talked to your beloved but you can’t wait to talk to him/her again. You wish you can be with him/her 24/7. You want to find out more about him/her. You love talking to others about him/her. You will NEVER love another person like you do him/her. You will do everything in your power to please him/her.

We have read that ‘[…] the LORD [our] God is a consuming fire, a jealous God’ (Deut 4:24). He loves us with an exclusive, desirous love.

What about our love towards Him?

Do we yearn to talk to Him? Do we wish to be near Him all the time? Do we want to find out more about Him? Do we like to talk to others about Him? Do we love Him with a love that we give no one and nothing else? Do we do everything in our power to please Him?

How can we say we love God with our heart if we cannot even give Him what non-believers give to the people they love?

Soul – Worship Him as God

The call to love God also includes loving Him with our soul – the part of us that recognises eternity and morality. Since the advent of the New Testament and Christ, men have often made the mistake of focusing only on John 3:16 and forgetting that the God in the New Testament also the God of the Old Testament, the great and awesome God.

This results in the general attitude of ‘God is love so He’ll forgive me anyway’ or ‘we are saved by grace alone so works are not important’ which in turn allows for men to indulge themselves since ‘God will forgive me because He is love’.

I remember once reading a comment someone made lamenting the fact that the Ten Commandments have now become the Ten Suggestions. This is actually rather true if we were to consider society today. Observing the Lord’s Day and not the Sabbath, the prevalent use of OMG, how just yesterday, the news reported that two-thirds of abuse cases of elderly folks are committed by their children as well as rapidly rising divorce rates are just some instances of this.

Where has the fear and awe of God gotten to? Besides holding fast to this fear and reverence towards God ourselves, we have to instil it in our children and also be set apart due to our fear of God in this crooked and perverse generation. So that people will say concerning us

Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the LORD our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him? (Deut 4:6-7)

Strength – Serve Him as THE boss

In addition, we do not just rest comfortably on our bottoms and say we love and worship God. We have to love Him with our strength too. That means getting up and working hard.

Our service, like anything we give to God, has to be unblemished and the best. Do we offer this kind of service to God?

I’m guilty of doing things last minute or haphazardly when it comes to church work because it seems there’s more room for error and people are more tolerant. This is an attitude that I’m trying to change for if I can do things 100% when it concerns my studies or career, I really should be doing it 120% percent when it is a service to God.

Comparing your secular work and your service to God, which has been more important to you? Are there any adjustments you should make?

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Besides reciting the shema when they wake up, the Israelites also recite it before they go to sleep and before they die.

Tonight, before you sleep, do recite Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and consider what it means to your life and how it affects your choice of eternity.