Thursday, July 16, 2015

Deuteronomy 10: Why Is It So Hard To Obey?

Have you ever realized just what a predicament our stubborn inclination to sin continually lands us in?  It's not enough that death entered the world through an initial act of rebellion that ushered in the Fall.  That was just the first in a long, virtually unbroken line of disobedience of God's laws.  And we know that sin always leads to great misery and dismay in the world.  Why, then, do we keep on sinning?  Why is it so hard to obey?  I'm not sure of the answer to this question, but I do know that obedience is highly valued by God.

Moses lays it out very clearly that what God is looking for on the part of His people is obedience.  He says, "So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only 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 of the Lord your Godc and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being" (vs. 12-13).

That doesn't sound so complicated, does it?  Obedience is simple, yet people throughout history always seem to find it to be so difficult to faithfully follow the Lord.  

The character of the Lord is revealed in His decrees.  He is not partial and takes no bribes (vs. 17), He is loving and just, even to the weakest of orphans, widows and strangers (vs. 18).  And He asks His people to do the same.  But apparently that's too much to ask because it is always seems to be too hard for us!

Moses passionately pleads with the Israelites, urging them to soften their hard hearts, at one point even encouraging them to circumcise the foreskin of their hearts (vs. 16).  We know that faithfully following God's laws are important - yet why do we find it so hard to obey?  What makes it hard for YOU to obey?

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