The Daily Word: Thursday, March 25th, 2021
Deuteronomy 4:1-49
Luke 6:39-7:10
Psalm 68:1-18
Proverbs 11:28
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Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice… – Deut. 4:30
The children of Israel finally made it to the Promised Land! After 40 years in the wilderness, they had arrived. But they still had a problem. Though they had made it, they wouldn’t be staying long:
“When you beget children and grandchildren and have grown old in the land, and act corruptly and make a carved image in the form of anything, and do evil in the sight of the Lord your God to provoke Him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon utterly perish from the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. – vv 25-26
God knew that His people would get too comfortable in the Promised Land. They would forget about Him! They would worship the gifts they had received instead of the Giver of those gifts (v 19). They would stop obeying His word and listening to His voice, so the land God had given them would vomit them out. They would enter into the Promised Land! But not long after they entered in, they would be cast out because they stopped listening to God.
Verse 30 tells us that we have two tasks. We are not only to turn to the Lord; we are also to “obey His voice”! When we turn to Him, He will take us to the Promised Land! But we only get to stay in the promise by obeying His voice.
What good is making it to the Promised Land if you are ejected as soon as you get there? Keep listening to God: not only on the way to the promise, but even – and especially – once you arrive.
“You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.” – Deut. 4:40
Prayer:
Father, keep me in the Promised Land. Open my ears to hear Your voice! I am humbling myself today. Remind me to listen to You when things go poorly, and still listen to You when things go well, in Jesus’ name!
© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.