24 February 2024
This very day the Lord your God is commanding you to observe these statutes and ordinances; so observe them diligently with all your heart and with all your soul. Today you have obtained the Lord’s agreement: to be your God; and for you to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, and his ordinances, and to obey him.
From Deuteronomy 26:16-19, NRSV
In today’s reading we hear Moses’ summing up of the Law. He has laid out in great detail the many rules to be followed, and now wants the people to understand their part in this new agreement. Moses makes it very clear that it is God’s message and not his own that he is conveying. The reward for their commitment will be great – they will be God’s very own people and they will receive wonderful blessings. Equally, the commitment of the people has to be great. It will not be enough to follow the rules in a perfunctory way – they must give no less than their whole heart and soul and be a truly holy people.
- Why do you think Moses addressed these words to the whole of the people and not just to the priests?
- What does whole hearted commitment to walking in God’s ways look like?
Choose one act of love which is required of you today and try to perform it whole heartedly. Reflect on what, if any, difference this made.
Image: Helix Nebula, referred to as “The Eye of God” Wikimedia Commons
