Do you ever wonder what is required of you in your present relationship with God? Confession: when our daughter joined FFA, I knew nothing about goats. Before G.O.A.T. became an acronym to describe athletes, “the greatest of all time,” we acquired a goat. So I bought a book called, “Raising Goats for dummies.” There are lots of books for dummies, but this one seemed most appropriate for me. What was expected of a goat owner? I needed to know.
What does God expect of his people? The Israelites needed to know. So Moses made it simple for them: fear the Lord, walk in obedience, love him, serve him with your whole life and observe his commands and decrees. In a similar passage, the prophet Micah answered, “What does the Lord require of you? Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. Living with a holy reverence, we obey God, we serve him and we observe his commands and decrees. But aren’t God’s expectations arduous? No. God gives us guidelines for our own good. We do not break God’s laws, but we can break ourselves over his laws.
Are you like me? My real struggle with God’s word is not the part I don’t understand well, but the part I do understand and try to live. God wants us to know the right way to serve him. By his Spirit, he speaks to us through his word. The Psalmist put it this way: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Do not be like the horse or the mule which have no understanding, but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you” (Psalm 32:8-9). After all these years, God is the “greatest of all time.” Let’s love him and live for him today.
