Scripture:
Deuteronomy 11:16-19 ESV
[16] Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; [17] then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you. [18] “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. [19] You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
Observation:
I’m going to do my best to break this down without butchering it. Moses is talking to GOD’s people and I believe that he is telling them to make sure that are not led astray by their emotions. GOD wanted HIS people to follow the truth, and their emotions were not always true. HE wanted their attention to be undivided and focused. As they kept their eyes on HIM, HE would take care of them. However, if they were to follow other gods HIS rain would not come at the right time and everything would collapse. HE gave them HIS word and with it a road map for them to follow. They were to study them and know them. It was to be the topic of discussion at the dinner table. They were to be mesmerized. Did you know that by the time a Jewish boy was 13 years old he had the first 5 books of the bible committed to his memory? they were to take it seriously. To pass it on to their children. To meditate on it day and night. So that the word of the LORD would be a lamp to their feet and a light to their path.
Application:
How different would life be if rather than allowing our emotions to make decisions we went to the word of GOD before we acted on anything? I’m sure it would change things in many ways. Our emotions can lead us astray and GOD knows that. The awesome thing is HE told us about it and gave us a way to do the right thing. I do have to tell you this GOD is not looking to destroy you the first time you mess up, HE just wants your attention HE wants you to be focused on HIM. Think about what HE has told you in HIS word. How you feel about any given situation is not always the truth about that situation. I want to take us back to a moment in time in a garden. Our Savior was in emotional distress. To the point of sweating blood. HE wanted to do what was right, but HE knew it was not going to feel good. However, what was about to happen was spoken about in the word of the LORD way before GOD ever sent Jesus to the earth. Jesus had to get past HIS emotions. HE had to press on. My point in all this is the world will tell you to do what feels good…if it feels good do it right?… I am challenging you to think a little differently than that. You see we were created in GOD’s image…soul body spirit. Father son holy spirit. The flesh wants what feels good the spirit wants what is good and the battle we face daily is which one are we going to feed. I want my soul to prosper and I believe that is done when I obey the holy spirit. That means I have to set my emotions aside. How I feel about something is not always the truth GOD’sword is the truth and I want my life to reflect that.
Prayer:
Father, you gave us your word. You asked us to keep it at the front of our thoughts and I just want to say it has never led me in the wrong direction. I want to pray this morning that you would lead us to your word and that we would take time to commit it to our memory. So that it would lead to our actions. I know that emotions are good when they fall under the shelter of your word, but they can also lead us astray. Let us lay them aside when they don’t line up with what your truth tells us. You are refining us to be more like your son and had HE made HIS decision based on HIS emotions we would not have a savior. I personally thank you for your SON. That moment at the cross changed my life and I am eternally grateful. In the mighty name of Jesus I pray amen.