.svg)
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to FEAR the Lord your God, to WALK in obedience to him, to LOVE him, to SERVE the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12, 13)
There are FIVE active verbs (capitalized) in the above two verses and all of them are REQUIREMENTS, and we must understand them as OUR DUTY to God.
In the first place, we are called upon/required to FEAR the Lord our God. This doesn’t mean being scared of him, but rather to have a deep reverence, awe, and respect for God’s majesty and power. It means to seek Him as number one in our lives (Matt. 6:33). If we truly fear God then we cannot intentionally sin against Him. Instead we should worship, love and obey His word. The fear of God sets the foundation for other four requirements we are going to look at.
Secondly, we are called upon/required to WALK in God’s ways. This means to follow His footsteps as outlined in His word. It means to align one’s lifestyle and daily actions with God’s will. We have good examples in the Bible who walked in God’s ways only because they feared Him. Joseph refused to sleep with Potiphar’s wife. Joseph did not revenge his brothers because of hating him. The midwives in the book of Exodus didn’t kill babies at birth as Pharaoh had commanded them. This was so because both Joseph and the midwives feared God, and that enabled them to walk in His ways.
Thirdly, we are called upon/required to LOVE God. This means to have an affectionate, devoted relationship with God. The one who FEARS God is the one who WALKS in His ways, because he LOVES Him. This requirement can be joined with the next one in order to be understood clearly.
Fourthly, we are called upon/required to SERVE God. After mentioning this, he adds, “…the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,…”. When He was summarizing the first Ten Commandments which spell out our duty to God, Jesus Christ said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37). This means to dedicate one’s energy and heart completely to doing His work.
Lastly, we are called upon/required to KEEP/OBSERVE God’s Commands and decrees. This means to obey God’s statutes as they are outlined in His word, not as a burden, but because they are designed “for our own good”.
All five requirements (FEAR, WALK, LOVE, SERVE, and KEEP/OBSERVE) are connected to each other, and they spell out our duty to God. The first one of FEARING God sets the foundation for the rest. But how many times have we failed to fulfill our duty to God?
Brethren, I would like to mention that on our own, we cannot able to fulfill this duty because we are sinners. We sin in thought, word and action. According to the scriptures, a sinner has a heart of stone, and a sinner is stiff-necked. This is why in the next few verses he says, “Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer” (Deuteronomy 10:16). This, therefore, is a call to repentance.
And “If we say that we have not sinned, we deceive ourselves and there is no truth in us. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8,9).
The God we serve is a God of second chance (2 Chronicles 7:14). If we turn to Him today, He is ready to forgive us. In the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Rt. Rev. Amos Magezi
1st Bishop of Diocese of Northwest Ankole.
Province of (Anglican) Church of Uganda
