October 3, 2024
Serve the LORD - Part 4
Deuteronomy 10:12-13
10/03/2024
12 And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God
require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to
walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the
LORD
13 your God with all your heart and with all your
soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of
the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your
good? (ESV)
Moses told the children of Israel as they prepared to enter
the land of Canaan:
And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of
you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his
ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all
your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the
commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am
commanding you today for your good?
Why should anyone serve the Lord God? Time and again, as we
read in the first five books of the Bible, and as we learn from
the books of history in the Old Testament, the children of Israel
turned from God to idols. Saint Paul wrote to the congregation
in Rome:
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as
God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in
their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged
the glory of the immortal God for images resembling
mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.[1]
The children of Israel, like you and me, desired a god they
to see and touch. It is difficult to worship and trust in a god
who is not confined to a physical place, but is present
everywhere and for all eternity. We desire to worship the
created rather than the Creator.
As we learn of God's love, grace, and mercy, we are drawn to
trust in Him. As we come to know that God created the heavens
and earth, that He still sustains them, we put aside the
creature. As we realize that we have sinned, and that God has
provided a Savior to redeem us, we serve Him with our heart and
soul.
May our Lord grant us faith to see His love and grace.
Amen.
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1. Romans 1:21-23 (ESV)