In the OT reading, there were a couple of verses that stood out for me today:
Deuteronomy 7:26 - And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction[c] like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction.
Moses was instructing the Israelites that they would not only drive out nations, but that they were to destroy everything that the people in those nations had left behind. This is something that I thought was important to realize that what may appear to be innocent at the time, can grab a hold of us, and cause spiritual destruction in our lives.
Deuteronomy 8:11 - Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today.
Today in church, one of things pastor Dan mentioned was remembering what the Lord has done in our lives. Lest you forget. We need to be keep in mind when everything is going well that we do not become proud and forget all that the Lord has done for us.
In our NT reading, Paul tells us to repent and be baptized (vs 38). But that is only the beginning. In vs 42, Paul talks about how the believers also devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching and to fellowship among themselves. They didn't meet every other week, or even once a week, they met every day. That's true devotion!
I pray that I can have the same devotion as they did, and the same fire and compassion that they had for the people in need.
2 comments:
When I read about destroying everything it made me think of how important it is to remove temptation to rely on our own means. By destroying the remains of the conquered people, they were totally trusting God to supply our their needs.
SOmetimes I have trouble understand how the Israelites could have even wanted a golden calf after being there to see first hand all that God had done for them. Then I realize that there are moments of doubt for me too and I may not make a "golden calf" but I might seek out other sources of strength in times of trouble and I am exactly the same.
This section jumped out at me....
7:6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you
We don't bring anything to the table. There is nothing within us that makes as any better or worthy than anyone else. We love because He first loved us. It's all Him.
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