ESOCS Devotional 17 August 2026 – Total Submission
MEMORY VERSE: Deut. 12:4 “You must not worship the LORD your God in their way.”
TEXT: Deuteronomy 12:1-11
“These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. 2 You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. 4 You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things.
5 “But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. 6 There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. 7 And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.
8 “You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes— 9 for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. 10 But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, 11 then there will be the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the Lord.
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In our text today we read of strict code of conduct for Israelites when they get to the promised land. It was a condition precedent to enjoy continued favour with God. These codes apply to us present day Christians and we have to put them in our context.
In the first is the duty to discard and erase places of idol worship reserved by initial occupants of the land. They are not to subscribe to idol worship. (Deut. 12:1-3). Today, in our traditional settings, most of our cultural practices are tied to idol worship and libation. We must not be part of it. We have to reject it to preserve our salvation in Christ.
Secondly, Israelites were barred from imitating the practices of idolaters in the worship of their gods. There are practices spelt out for them in the worship of God. They are to follow them. (Deut. 12:4). The Christian faith has a form of worship based on what the Bible teaches. The Bible has enough from where every Christian should draw from in the worship of God. We have to avoid imitating cultists and idol worshippers in their patterns.
Thirdly, God marked out places of worship. Tithes and offerings are to be presented there and their feasts held in those places of worship. Christians by this should learn to be committed in their chosen congregation. The practice of moving from one place of worship to another has made many worshippers fall into wrong hands and some have bowed down to idols with that practice. (Deut. 12:5-7, 11).
Again, Israel had the guide to follow the will of God and not choose for themselves what to do. There is to be unity of purpose and mission in the congregation of God’s people. (Deut. 12:8). In the same way are we urged to know and follow the mission that Christ has set for the Church and accomplish the purpose of our calling. (Mark 16:15 – end).
The summary of it all is that anyone who desires to sustain his salvation and proceed to eternal life in Christ Jesus must as a matter of truth submit totally to the will and way of the Lord as the Bible teaches.
Question
Can we serve two masters at the same time?
Prayer
Father, may I forever serve and please you in Jesus name. Amen.
Further Reading:
Ezekiel 39:21-end, John 20:24-end, Heb. 8:1-13.
ESOCS Devotional 17 August 2026
