Day 54 or February 23. Love God and keep His commandments. Our thoughts today are from
Deuteronomy 11 verse 1. Love the Lord your God and keep His requirements, His decrees,
His laws, and His commands always.
First the big picture surrounding this verse. Moses reminds the people that they need to
do what he's saying and not just listen to him. He mentions a recent miracle that everyone
had experienced. During their wilderness wanderings none of their clothing or sandals wore out,
and they remained very comfortable for the whole forty years. He also recalls breaking
the two tablets of stone upon which was written the Ten Commandments. I'm sure he never
forgot this act of vandalism. They were of extreme value to him and the people, and we
can only dream of their value today if they had survived. The children of Israel are about
to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land, and Moses stresses that they must be
faithful to God's word and put into practice everything he is giving them from God's law.
Today's action step. Moses lays a heavy emphasis on reading and studying the word of God. He
tells the people they're to love it. It's not an option, any more than loving each other
is, if we take the words of Jesus seriously in John 13 verse 34. Love each other. Just
as I have loved you, you should love each other. As we study something from the Bible
each day, it's worth remembering that this is not an optional extra. We are commanded
to do it. Within Judaism it was the norm to read all the works of your rabbi many times.
So remember, Jesus is our rabbi, and so much more besides. This book covers highlights
through the whole Bible, and it is our prayer that it will whet your appetite to take the
next step and read or listen to the Bible text too. As a test, why not read the chapter
which contains the daily verse? Or you may prefer to listen to the audio version of the
Bible recorded by the writer of this book. More information on our website Bible.org.uk.