ESOCS Devotional 19 June 2023
MEMORY VERSE: “Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.” Deuteronomy 6:12
TEXT: DEUTERONOMY 6: 1-12
Now this is the instruction, the laws, and the precepts which the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land to which you go to possess it,
2 That you may [reverently] fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, and keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.
3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be watchful to do them, that it may be well with you and that you may increase exceedingly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
4 Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord [the only Lord].
5 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your [mind and] heart and with your entire being and with all your might.
6 And these words which I am commanding you this day shall be [first] in your [own] minds and hearts; [then]
7 You shall whet and sharpen them so as to make them penetrate, and teach and impress them diligently upon the [minds and] hearts of your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.
8 And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets (forehead bands) between your eyes.
9 And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10 And when the Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you, with great and goodly cities which you did not build,
11 And houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and cisterns hewn out which you did not hew, and vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and when you eat and are full,
12 Then beware lest you forget the Lord, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
In Verse 5 of our text today, Moses commanded the people. “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” The “Heart”, “Soul” and “Might” form the totality of the human personality. The emphasis, therefore, is that the totality of man must be given to God. One must not “visit” God occasionally in times of trouble and need. Some have turned God to that “stick” which was used to kill that “snake”. It was thrown away after killing the snake and could only be remembered at the emergence of another snake. It should not be so. “God” must be the central focus of one’s existence (in good times and bad times). All of one’s life must be consumed with the presence of God.
When given a gift for which one did not work, it is easy to take the gift for granted. In Israel’s case, they were blessed with the material things of a land of milk and honey.
Satan’s best weapon against the spiritual nature of man is to focus man on the physical; materialism became Israel’s downfall as the nation began to move away from focusing on the spiritual. After 40 years in the wilderness, we would assume that they were initially overwhelmed by the bountiful nature of the land. But after occupying the land for decades, they began to focus on their own skills of productivity and leaving God out of their success. They totally forgot what they were told in Deuteronomy 8:18, “But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.” The moment God gives you the power/skill to make wealth, and you forget him, then his covenant may not be established. This is when you find blessing being turned to curse. The book of Malachi 2:2 says, “If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because, ye do not lay it to heart.” Verse 3 of Malachi 2 makes it more fearful if you fail to retain God in your success. It says, “Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.”
It is a terrific disaster not to retain God in your success
- Do not usurp God’s glory by not acknowledging him as the giver of your success. Give thanks to him always.
- God, help me to acknowledge your blessings and retain you in my success always in Jesus name, Amen.
FURTHER READING: Ezekiel 34:1-10; Mark 14:66–72; Acts 7:54–60
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ESOCS Devotional 19 June 2023
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