The Monday within the Octave of the Feast of the Holy Trinity
Posted on June 16, 2025 by under
Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:1-15 (NKJV)
6:1 “Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
10 “So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, 11 houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full—12 then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 13 You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name. 14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you 15 (for the Lord your God is a jealous God among you), lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.
Devotion
“I have heard it all before.” Many of us are familiar with these words and the tone of frustration that often comes along with them, whether we say them, or we are hearing them from employees, or children, or even younger siblings. In many cases, when words are repeated there is a good reason for it, and there certainly was when Moses repeated the Law to the nation of Israel.
All of the ceremonies and civil laws were to govern their lives and guide them as they awaited the Christ, who was promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to them. In the midst of all these laws, it could be easy to forget the greatest and most important commandment: to love the Lord God (who is one God) with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. If we understand this Law correctly, we understand that we are unable to follow it, and that to seek salvation by the Law is vain and futile. But salvation comes to us by grace, through faith—Christ has kept this, and all of the rest of the Law, for us. And now that we stand in grace, the Holy Spirit will help us to live in that grace and do good works according to it.
Collect: Almighty and Everlasting God, Who hast given unto us, Thy servants, grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity: We beseech Thee, that Thou wouldest keep us steadfast in this faith, and evermore defend us from all adversities; Who livest and reignest, One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
