You must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.
-Deuteronomy 6:6 NLT
And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land which the LORD swore to give to your fathers.
-Deuteronomy 6:18 RSV
And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as at this day.
-Deuteronomy 6:24 RSV
This chapter of Deuteronomy seems to be all about God’s commandments as they are meant to keep his believers alive.
I struggle with this in relationship to Jesus’s fulfillment of the Law and His declaration that loving one’s neighbor as oneself and as God are the most important commandments.
Does this mean that once our physical bodies are not under constant threat, then the long list of commands in Deuteronomy become stumbling blocks in the way of love? Does it mean that even under starvation and physical peril we must love above all?
Didn’t Jesus say the Law was only meant to show us that we are incapable of following the rules? That we must love as much as we can?
I didn’t attend Sunday service today. I played soccer. Can I love God and myself and my teammates and my opponents outside of worship? Is worship to live in love and be open to my teammates, friends, family, and neighbors about my faith in Jesus Christ? Is that enough? More than enough?
I ask these questions and assume I could be doing things wrong. I pray for the openness and wisdom to receive the answers and take them to heart.
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