Wednesday after the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on October 11, 2023 by under
Scripture: Deuteronomy 30:11-20 (NKJV)
30:11 “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.
15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
Devotion
Today is another reflection of the Gospel reading from Trinity 18, which we heard last Sunday: “I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments.” If the Israelites did this, they would inherit the Promised Land, the land which the Lord swore to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. With the promise, however, comes a warning. If they did not obey the Law, they would surely perish. Without the Lord God as their God, they would not take possession of the Promised Land. And as history bears out, they did not keep the Lord God as their only God, and both the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah were led into exile.
We are also unable to keep the commandments of the Lord God perfectly. We also rightly deserve to perish eternally on account of our unbelief and rebellion against God’s Law; to be led into eternal exile. But our Lord God does not forget His promises. He knows that we are unable to perfectly keep the Law, so He sends to us His Only-Begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be our Lord and Savior. He fulfills the Law perfectly for us, and by His death He opens to us the way of eternal life with Him. Through faith in Him we can enter into the Promised Land of the Resurrection and live with Him for all eternity.
Prayer: O God, forasmuch as without Thee we are not able to please Thee: Mercifully grant, that Thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever 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.
