October 24th - Reflection

Deuteronomy 6:1-9, 20-25 (NRSV)
The great commandment

Now this is the commandment -- the statutes and the ordinances -- that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, so that you and your children and your children's children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. ...

When your children ask you in time to come, "What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?" then you shall say to your children, "We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. The Lord displayed before our eyes great and awesome signs and wonders against Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his household. He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land that he promised on oath to our ancestors. Then the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our lasting good, so as to keep us alive, as is now the case. If we diligently observe this entire commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, we will be in the right."

Reflection
A love of the law taught by both oral tradition and written word. Taught throughout the generations from one to another. The exhortation to remember what had happened when the Israelites escape Egypt as slaves to begin a new life. A new life first wandering in the wilderness and then living in the Promised Land. Finally after years of disobedience from God's commands they were exiled in the north to Assyria and in the south to Babylon. Only later to return once again and rebuild until the coming of Jesus.

We learn from our life story and our lessons from the past. We learn that God is with us in the good and the bad. We learn that God is patient with us and loves us enough to call us back or even to come to us and rescue us. We learn, we remember, we respond to God in deep love for God and in deep love for one another.

God has shown us love in action. God has shown himself in love in Jesus. What more could we want to delight in the law and to be tied to the law in love for God. Wear the law and the Word made flesh every day. It is God's Love and Truth given for me and for you. Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Lord, as I read your tough law that I haven't a chance to completely fulfill, I learn to love every letter of the law. Knowing that Jesus came in flesh and lived all of this law for me, to redeem me brings eternal hope, comfort and joy. Teach me each day something new that you would change in me that I may walk in your will and your way ...today ...tomorrow ...and forever. --- Amen