What does God require of you?

What does the Lord require of you? We remember that Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” And He gave us the “First and Great Commandment” which is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength”--with all the implications thereof! And the 2^nd is “like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Those two commandments should engage our attention every day. They're obviously central and very helpful.

            But there's another way of seeking the answer to this momentous question. It's found in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 10 when Moses was speaking to the people of God shortly before he died. Moses asked, “¹² “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you. . . .??” And then answered the question:

1 but to fear the Lord your God,

2 to walk in all his ways,

3 to love him,

4 to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
5 ¹³ and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord . . . for your good

         Then Moses pointed out why the Lord has the right and authority to command us and to “require of us” what He does. ¹⁴ Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. And that's amplified in Psalm 24:1-2
¹ The earthWe belong to God by right of creation.

And We belong to God by right of preservation. He provides for us and keeps us alive.

And We belong to God by right of redemption. “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.” 1 Cor. 6:19-20

        So God gives us a list of 5 ways for us to see if we measure up to what God expects.

Love is at the heart of all of this. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:10    And if we love God, we must do so with our hearts. God seeks those who will worship and serve Him with a willing heart.

        Spurgeon in his inimitable way shows us what that means.

2 Chronicles 31:21 He did it with all his heart and prospered.

       This is no unusual occurrence; it is the general rule of the moral universe that those men prosper who do their work with all their hearts, while those are almost certain to fail who go to their labour leaving half their hearts behind them. God does not give harvests to idle men except harvests of thistles, nor is He pleased to send wealth to those who will not dig in the field to find its hid treasure. It is universally confessed that if a man would prosper, he must be diligent in business. It is the same in religion as it is in other things. If you would prosper in your work for Jesus, let it be heart work, and let it be done with all your heart. Put as much force, energy, heartiness, and earnestness into religion as ever you do into business, for it deserves far more.

       The Holy Spirit helps our infirmities, but He does not encourage our idleness; He loves active believers. Who are the most useful men in the Christian church? The men who do what they undertake for God with all their hearts. Who are the most successful Sabbath-school teachers? The most talented? No; the most zealous; the men whose hearts are on fire, those are the men who see their Lord riding forth prosperously in the majesty of His salvation.

        Whole-heartedness shows itself in perseverance; there may be failure at first, but the earnest worker will say, "It is the Lord's work, and it must be done; my Lord has bidden me do it, and in His strength I will accomplish it." Christian, art thou thus "with all thine heart" serving thy Master?  Remember the earnestness of Jesus! Think what heart-work was His! He could say, "The zeal of Thine house hath eaten Me up." When He sweat great drops of blood, it was no light burden He had to carry upon those blessed shoulders; and when He poured out His heart, it was no weak effort He was making for the salvation of His people. Was Jesus in earnest, and are we lukewarm?

                                                                    --Charles Spurgeon, 1834-1892

             It is also refreshing to read the paraphrase of this passage in Deuteronomy 10 in The Message: “So now Israel, what do you think God expects from you? Just this: Live in his presence in holy reverence, follow the road he sets out for you, love him, serve God, your God, with everything you have in you, obey the commandments and regulations of God that I'm commanding you today—live a good life.”

           “Look around you: Everything you see is God's—the heavens above and beyond, the Earth, and everything in it. . . . God, your God, is the God of all gods, he's the Master of all masters, a God immense and powerful and awesome. . . . He's your praise! He's your God!”

“The Faithful witness in the skies”

“The Faithful witness in the skies”

          Did you see the moon last night?! It was so beautiful once again. And the sky was perfectly clear where we live in Arkansas. You've seen it so many times before and you never tire of it. It so reminds us of God's Presence and God's faithfulness when you see a lovely moon in the skies. I'll never forget the time I went to a Christmas program at the mission in Carmel, California. Minnie had taught school that day and was tired and wanted to stay home so I went by myself, which was quite unusual since she was almost always with me. It was the night of a full moon and the skies were clear and crisp as a winter night can be. It was so lovely I decided to drive by Carmel beach and watch the moon in the ocean as the white caps washed gently on the beach and the sand was so white in the moonlight! It was absolutely breath-taking and I immediately wished that Minnie was there to see it, as she had before. I parked my car and just stayed there a long while watching and praising God that He gives us such beauty regularly and faithfully.

         Then I thought about the scripture that calls the moon “God's faithful witness in the sky.” Psalm 89:37 The moon reminds us of God's faithfulness and His goodness and His Presence and His love of beauty which He created because He is the source of beauty. It reminds us of God's promise that “while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22

        Then I thought about how the moon reflects the glory and power of the sun but has no light within itself, but can only reflect (or tell of) the light of the sun. In the same way Jesus calls us, His disciples, “salt and light.” The light is not our own; we have none. The light we are to reflect is Jesus' Light who truly is “the Light of the World.” “I am the light of the world,” Jesus said, “he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12

         And I thought of the many friends God has given Minnie and me throughout the world and I wondered if you saw the moon last night or was it cloudy and blocked from sight? Did you thank God for it and for its beauty and its faithful reminders of God's creativity and love? Did it remind you of the glory that is yet to come? ^“And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” Rev. 21:23

         When you read this, click on Reply from Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Mexico, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, that beautiful pleasant land of Washington, California which I still love in spite of it all (my native state), Arkansas, that lovely state of Colorado, and even the great state of Texas from where God gave me my greatest gift, my wife—and two of our children. Did you see the moon last night? Did you thank God for what you saw? It kinda ties us together, doesn't it, giving us a similar experience.

                                          Love, Pastor Burnside