October 2, 2024
Serve the LORD - Part 3
Deuteronomy 10:12-13
10/02/2024
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)
Before the children of Israel entered the land of Canaan,
Moses taught them of the God who had delivered them from Egypt.
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?
Who is the LORD God? His Name, which is hidden in the word
LORD, means ``I Am.'' He existed before the beginning of the
universe. He brought everything into existence with the power of
His voice.
Because His creation, humans, turned from His grace and
mercy, and because of His eternal love for His people, God the
Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the price of our sins.
The truth is simple, any sin, no matter how small, condemns us.
It is our nature to sin, the nature which our first parents took
upon themselves when they defied God. Therefore, the LORD God,
the eternal and almighty, determined to redeem us from the power
of death.
By our own reason or strength we cannot believe in the LORD
God, we cannot trust in the innocent suffering and death of Jesus
to pay the price of our sins. Our first thoughts about the good
news that Jesus conquered death by bursting forth from the tomb
is unbelief. But the Holy Spirit, who comes to us in God's Word
and the Sacraments, creates and sustains the faith with trusts in
God alone.
We confess the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
This is the God Moses calls us to serve. May our Lord grant us
the wisdom to hear His Word and to trust in Him. Amen.