Joel M Bradshaw

29Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments…–Deuteronomy 5

I don’t consider myself a good memorizer of Scripture, but I do tend to think in categories and chapters. So if you asked me, “When in the New Testament does Jesus speak about the Holy Spirit?” I would answer John 14 and 16. Those are chapters. Much easier. Think of them as answers to trivia, if it helps. So today’s chapter has another such moment. For the Ten Commandments are actually placed in two chapters. Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. Repeat it a few times. Exodus 20 and–well, you get the idea.

So after Moses recounted the commandments again, he gave the a history reminder. How they acted and what they said when they originally received them back in Exodus. And the people spoke great words to God in response. In fact, they spoke these words to Moses to go tell God…

27Go near and hear all that the LORD our God will say, and speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’

They proclaimed to be a people eager to hear the word of God and willing to obey. And God responded with our verse above. He appreciated their response to him. So what type of response does God expect from you and me? The Israelites already mentioned hearing and obeying. Let’s add one more to make it memorable. Believing.

That’s H-B-O, if you follow. I didn’t grow up with Cable TV, and so I certainly didn’t have access to one of the specialty premium channels like HBO. But Grandma did, and occasionally we were able to see movies with her on that channel. So what kind of response does God expect?

1. HEAR the Word of the Lord. You could do the by listening to sermons or if you have one of those apps that reads the Bible to you audibly. Otherwise, you ‘hear’ just fine by getting into your Bible and reading.
2. BELIEVE the Word of the Lord. Belief = trust. You believe the Bible is God’s word and you trust it to both challenge and encourage. To lead and to guide. You hold it as sufficient to do what it does and you trust the God who wrote it to use it to change you for his glory.
3. OBEY the Word of the Lord. You therefore orient your attitude, your motivation, your thoughts, your emotions, your words, and your actions towards God and his glory. You live to please God. You do so by applying the Bible to your situation and obeying with diligence.

When I call out for my kids to do something, I’m find with them saying, “Daddy, we hear you.” Actually, that would be kind of nice. I wouldn’t have to repeat myself seven or eight times. I’m great with them believing that I am their Father and that my commands have authority. But I expect obedience. HBO all over again.

God expects this response to flow from your heart or your seat of convictions and motivations. This means that it begins in your thoughts and leads to your emotions. Your thoughts and emotions affect your convictions which influence your motivations. your motivations direct your words, deeds, and attitudes. All this begins with the Bible and ends with God’s glory.

Our world tells us to follow our hearts. The heart is deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9) in that it lies to you and leads you astray. Never follow your heart. Listen to your heart, maybe, but don’t follow it. Your heart will only lead you astray. Because we DON’T naturally have hearts that want to HBO. And hence, God’s words in our chapter today. Don’t follow your heart. Instead follow God’s ‘heart’.–JMB