Freedom For Today

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Deuteronomy 31 before reading the devotional below.

Several years ago, I went on a retreat.  It was a 3-day encounter with the Holy Spirit, and it changed my life.  On the final day, just before we went home, the leaders had us write letter to ourselves.  It was dated one year in the future. Our assignment was to not open it until the date on the letter.  Then we would have a message that reminded us of what we’d experienced. Much would change in that year, but it was a reminder of the things that hadn’t changed.

In the life of Israel, much was changing.  Moses was handing off the leadership to Joshua his protege.  The Israelites were leaving the desert and entering their promised inheritance.  They would live in houses and cities instead of in tents. They would put down roots instead of constantly being on the move.  So Moses makes one final command. They people of God are to publically reread the entire law together once every seven years. Imagine that – the entire country gathering together just for the reading of the law.  It would be a time of refocusing and celebration. It would be a time of remembering what’s important and setting aside distractions.

Read it often. Don’t just look for new things.  Look for reminders. God has given you his word to help you come back to what really matters when life is full of distractions and secondary issues.  The word of God is an incredible gift. The people of Israel had to gather together to hear the word of God read outloud. We can now do it on our phones, our laptops, our tablets.  The word of God is everywhere. Now all we have to do is read it.

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Deuteronomy 30 before reading the devotional below.

Several months ago, we were watching an old episode of The Amazing Race, a TV show in which teams of two race from pitstop to pitstop all the way around the world.  One team had clearly gotten lost. They were hiking uphill through the woods. An hour into the hike, they began to wonder if they were going the wrong direction.  Three hours into the hike, they were sure they were going the wrong direction. “But we have to keep going,” they said. “We’ve gone this far.” They had emotionally invested too much in going the wrong direction.  Unfortunately, they couldn’t get back on track until they turned around.

In Deuteronomy 30, God shows both his incredibly wisdom and his breathtaking love.  In his wisdom, he knows that his people will wander off track. They will disobey him, and God will release them to experience the consequences of their disobedience.  They will lose the land God has provided, the harvests God has provided, and the safety that God has provided. They will be brought as exiles to a far off land, returned in a sense to the state God had found them in Egypt before he graciously saved them.  Any Israelite who finds himself in that situation might be tempted to give up hope. But in that moment, God promises to still listen for the cries of his people. He promises to once again rescue and transform them. Even when God disciplines his people, he never abandons them.

God loves you. When you fail or falter or rebel, God still loves you. When you are as far away from God as you can imagine being, God still loves you.  Because of that incredible love, you can always turn back to him and find the forgiveness and acceptance that you long for. All it takes is courage: courage to admit your sin, courage to be humble before God, courage to ask for help.  God can (and does) promise to lovingly take you back. You will only find out the truth of that promise when you take the risk and return to God.

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Deuteronomy 29 before reading the devotional below.

I grew up knowing the story of my family for generations.  My great-grandparents were immigrants. They came to America aboard ship, and checked in at Ellis Island in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty.  My grandfather started his own business installing hardwood floors. He was the first person in his family to own a house. My parents built a better house, and sent their children to college.  I benefit from a generational legacy of hard work and family values. It is a legacy that I hope to improve upon before I hand it over to my children.

In Deuteronomy 29 God calls his people to think about their legacy.  He reminds them that the covenant (a legally-binding, spiritual agreement) is not just with them, but with their children and their children’s children.  The idea is simple: spiritual choices that the Israelites make today will impact people for generations. If they choose to be faithful to the covenant, their children and grandchildren will be blessed. If they choose to be unfaithful, generations to come will suffer the consequences.  

You have the power to make great decisions, and those decisions can impact the world not just today but for generations to come.  Like the Israelites, you have a decision before you today. Regardless of your past, you have a decision to make today. The Israelites had a mixed history with God – sometimes they were faithful, often they were not.  You may have had a similar experience in your spiritual journey. Today, however, God is placing a choice before you: will you be faithful to God’s covenant or not? Deuteronomy 29 reminds us of the power of that choice.

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Deuteronomy 28 before reading the devotional below.

Have you ever had someone take advantage of you?  I have. I had hired a contractor to do a job at my house.  Less than halfway through the job, he sat down with me at my kitchen table.  “I’m out of money,” he said. “The job has cost more than expected, so if we are going to go forward…” and he trailed off.  At the end of the conversation, we foolishly advanced him more money. We never heard from him again. He cashed my check and never did any more work.  He stopped returning my phone calls and my texts. He simply disappeared. When I realized that he’d taken advantage of me, I was angry and offended. It was hard for me to admit, but I came to realize that I was appropriately angry.  Appropriately offended.

In these chapters we come face to face with the deep passions of God.  God has passionately blessed his people with land and wealth. He is lovingly providing for all their needs and desires.  In return, he expects them to acknowledge his leadership as their God. If, however, they reject him while continuing to take advantage of all the blessings he has showered upon them, God will be quite appropriately offended. He will take back all the blessings he has poured out on his people, and leave them curses instead.  Is this the behavior of a vengeful God? No. It is the behavior of a reasonable God who refuses to be taken advantage of.

His love is neither cold nor distant. It is firey and energetic. Your emotions are part of how you are made in the image of God.  Sometimes people wonder if they can trust their emotions, but this is the wrong question. God made you to have emotions. They are a part of who you are.  If you accept and embrace the deeply emotional aspects of your nature, you will find that they can become a valuable and integral part of you. Perhaps the first step towards this acceptance and embrace of our emotions is to adjust our view of God to include his emotions.  If you think God is cold and unfeeling, you will feel obligated to act the same way. If, however, you see God as deeply and inherently emotional, you will find yourself to be release to mirror God by being deeply and inherently emotional yourself.

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Deuteronomy 27 before reading the devotional below.

When we first got married, we bought all the furniture for our house at a flea market.  We bought dressers, nightstands, a couch, a love seat, even our mattress all for $425.  Some of that furniture only lasted a year or two – like the used mattress. Other furniture, like the dressers, were still in use even a year ago.  I resisted getting rid of the very last dresser for a long time. Why? Because it had become a symbol. It was a symbol of where we’d come from – we had no money when we got married, and we were still deeply content.  It was also a symbol of God’s provision – even when we had no money, God had made sure we had whatever we needed.

In Deuteronomy 27, God teaches his people to institute symbols much like that dresser.  The Israelites had experienced God’s miraculous provision in ways that were shocking, life-changing and unimaginable.  Some people might think that makes God’s miracles unforgettable, but God knows the truth. The truth is that human memory always fades.  Initial excitement can cool. Moments of awe fade. Memory dims. Experiences that may once have seemed compelling may seem more ambiguous with time.  Such is human nature. So God offers a solution: create monuments and develop ceremonies. The Israelites are told to gather a set of stones and to put them on a mountain for all to see.  In a world of deserts and valleys, that far off monument will attest to the truths that Israelite history records: God is faithful and he is the one, true provider. Obedience is the safest path.

What did you once know for sure about God? What had you seen him do in your life?  What truths of the Bible seemed crystal clear? Create reminders for yourself about those things.  It may be that you write in a journal. Or you might create a decorative reminder in your apartment.  It might be that you get a tattoo or set aside a specific day each year to remind yourself of God’s faithfulness.  What matters is this: God has been faithful to you, and he will be faithful again. Rather than getting distracted by any momentary experiences that might lead to doubt, how can you refocus yourself on his incredible faithfulness?