Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Deuteronomy 33 before reading the devotional below.
Several years ago, we had a famous pastor come and speak at our church. He pastors a huge church, he’s been on the cover of Time magazine, he’s written a host of books, and he is very influential within our movement. All in all, people were wildly excited to come and hear him speak. Except me. I was more excited because he was bringing one of his associate pastors with him. This associate pastor is largely unknown outside his own church, but to me he is a rock star. He is one of the men who have helped me define my own calling, even though we’d only met once. When they first arrived, the associate pastor walked up to me and said, “Hey Josh! What’s going on, man?” I found myself thinking “Wow…he knows my name?”
There’s something powerful about finding out that you aren’t lost in a crowd. In Deuteronomy 34 Moses, the great leader of God’s people, speaks his final words. These words are different from all the words that have come before, however. All the words of Deuteronomy have been addressed to all the Israelites, to the whole nation. These final words are more personal though. Israel is broken up into twelve major family groups, called tribes. Moses addresses each tribe individually offering a specific blessing unique to that family.
Just as God spoke through Moses to each of those families individually, God sees you and knows you in all your uniqueness. He values you because you are you – different from anyone else in the entire world. God has singled you out, wanting to have a unique relationship with you. It won’t be the same relationship he has with anyone else. He won’t just be having a relationship with everyone in your church or everyone in your family. He sees you individually. He loves you individually. He knows your name.