Trust and Obey

Deuteronomy 6: 1-9 (NIV): These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, promised you. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door-frames of your houses and on your gates.

    The hymn says, “trust and obey, there is no other way to be happy in Jesus.” This passage is saying something very similar. Moses was instructing the Israelites how to be happy and live long lives in the Promised Land that they were about to enter. He told them to know God’s Word and to obey it. This is the key to everything.

    How can we know what God wants from us if we don’t read his Word? How can we know what promises he has for us if we don’t read or hear about it? God has always been clear: if his people obey and honor him, he will bless them; but if we don’t, we will not only miss out on his blessings, but we will be punished.

    He wants his commandments to be on our hearts. This means we memorize them, know what they mean, and think about them. They are part of who we are, and part of our decision-making.

    And the thing God wants most from us is to love him. This is a real, sacrificial, unconditional love. This is a verb, not a fond feeling. This is real love, where we place him in first place in our lives, and live to please him. Jesus said this was the most important commandment (Matthew 22:37). Jesus knew a truth – that if we truly love God, we will want to obey him.

    But God knows we must pass our love for him down to our children or they will forget about him. So Moses told the Israelites to tell their children about God when they were sitting at home, when they walked along the road, when they went to bed, and first thing in the morning. Faith was to be in integral part of their day. Our children will see how important our faith is, and they will follow our lead. They know if we love God most of all. They know if our faith is genuine. They can tell by our words and actions.

    This passage is called the Shema. It tells us how to be happy and blessed. It instructs us how to pass our faith to our children.