Deuteronomy 5:1-7
One way to describe our lives is to say we’re on a journey. A journey indicates movement. We move from one home to another, arriving in a different place and sometimes a different culture. We enter the world as dependent infants, but hopefully grow into independent adults. As any parent can attest, life’s journey includes bumps along the way.
The nation Israel is looking for a home where their people could be independent.
On their journey, Moses calls the Israelites to stop moving and listen carefully. “Hear this,” he tells them, “Remember to obey God. Don’t forget who God is, and how God worked in our past.” God of their present has guided their entire journey: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery (v. 6).
We grow so busy and distracted that it’s easy to lose our focus. While we don’t stop believing in God’s existence, neither do we take time to remember who God is or how our past relationship with God shapes our all-consuming present and future concerns.
Think of a time when your relationship with God seemed more intimate. When did you know that the God of Moses and Jesus was calling you to follow? Do you recall words of Scripture that became your verse? Did a particular hymn, like “Amazing Grace,” guide you through a difficult time?
Yes, we are on a journey that calls us to look ahead. “But first,” Moses says, “Let’s remember who we are, what God has done for us, and who the Holy One has called us to be.”
Consider
What distractions in your life keep you from listening to God?
Pray
God, give us ears to hear you. Slow us down and help us listen to you. In the name of Jesus, who spent time with crowds and with you alone, we pray. Amen.