Today’s Tasting: Deuteronomy 8–10: In Deuteronomy 8 the people were reminded of who God is and that they were to follow every commandment given to them. They were to remember how He provided for them and took care of them while they were in the wilderness. Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 3b, is one of the better-known verses of the Bible: “man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”
In Deuteronomy 9, Moses reviewed with the people how they rebelled against the Lord and provoked Him in the wilderness, and how he pleaded with God on their behalf so He would not destroy them.
In Deuteronomy 10, Moses described how God gave him a second set of tablets with the Ten Commandments. He had destroyed the first set when he brought them down from the mountain where he had been meeting with God and saw that the people had formed a calf to worship in the place of God. Moses reminded them that God in His mercy did not destroy them, and reminded them of what the Lord required in return: “fear the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord with all your heart and all your soul and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes” (10:12–13).
Today’s Nourishment: The people of Israel had to be constantly reminded to stay on the right path. We also see in today’s Scriptures the grace and mercy of the Lord. God could have easily destroyed them all for their disobedience, but He chose not to.
Can we see in our own lives how God touches us with His grace and mercy? We serve a God who is both loving and just, and He offers His grace to us daily. We know the price we should pay for sin is death and yet by the blood of Christ we are freely given forgiveness and spared from death. Does that mean that we now live in a “rose garden”? No!
Daily we find ourselves walking in disobedience like the Israelites in chapter 9 and then clinging to God’s grace as they did in chapter 10. But God’s grace is not a free ticket to sin! We need to flee from sin, do a 180-degree turn from sin and run in the opposite direction! We need to be aware of our actions and thoughts.
If we have truly given our heart to the Lord and asked Him into our lives, then we want to do the best we can for Him. That does not make us perfect; however, we do not intentionally do the wrong thing (knowing it is wrong) in hopes of being forgiven in the morning, or justify our behavior so we can continue living in sin. The Bible calls that presumptuous sin (see Psalm 19:13). A good way to check if you’re presuming on God’s grace is to ask yourself if you would invite Jesus to join you in what you are doing.
My question today is, have you accepted Jesus into your life as your Lord and Savior? Are you trying to live your life in obedience to Him? If you haven’t, it’s really simple: all you have to do is pray, asking Him to come into your heart and forgive you of your sins. Then, connect with others who believe as you do that Jesus has paid the price in full for your sin. Please let us know if you’ve made that commitment today.
Tomorrow’s Delight: Deuteronomy 11–13
Name: Robin Hardy
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Robin, your post has reminded me of the danger of sinning, while presuming on God’s grace. Sometimes, I find myself continuing with an attitude or thoughts, knowing all the time that I will settle the attitude or thoughts later. “God, please forgive me for even thinking presumptuously of you.”
Thankful for God’s grace and mercy and I won’t use it as an excuse to sin, take for granted or take advantage of it. God could’ve easily destroyed the Israelites and could easily destroy us for disobedience but I’m thankful that he doesn’t. That’s what makes me love Him even more. Great post, Robin. I am again reminded of how serious and portent it is for us to obey and follow God.
This is great I too do not want to think presumptuously of The Lord. Lord forgive me if I do. I am thankful for the Lord’s mercy and of His grace. I want to serve Him with my whole heart staying connected and alert that I may not sin against Him in my heart!