Fear of the Lord Be My Motivation
Scripture Passage: Deuteronomy 17:14-20 (NASB)
14 “When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,’ 15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman. 16 Moreover, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never again return that way.’ 17 He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself.
18 “Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel.
SUMMARY
Moses describes the future king who should be over the people of Israel. He says the king should be one who the Lord chooses amongst their countrymen. Moses also provides some boundaries and forbids future kings from multiplying horses, having multiple wives, or increasing silver and gold for themselves. Afterwards, he lists things that the king must do, such as having a copy of the scroll and reading it each day, so that his heart will not stray because he fears the Lord and he would observe all of his law.
MEDITATION & REFLECTION
As I was reflecting on this passage, I realized that knowing the motives of leadership positions is so important. With elections coming up, I need to carefully think about which candidate to vote for, and earnestly pray that God will touch their hearts so that their actions will come from a place of fearing the Lord instead of their own gain. Also, in my own positions of leadership and responsibility at work, home and serving at church, I was reminded that I need to examine my own heart as well. I need to make sure that it is pure and not self seeking, but instead seeking God's way and commandments.
APPLICATION
Lately I have been feeling very unmotivated to do things I know I should be doing, like exercising, eating well, and reading and praying daily. I think the urgency and anxiety I felt at the beginning of the Coronavirus has lessened. I feel more at ease lately, and less of the need to do things, and just accept whatever happens. I think I have let go of my need to control and discipline, because I was initially only performing from fear of financial loss, vanity, and loss of stability. Now that time has passed, I have adjusted to going out less, eating more, and relaxing after work instead of developing myself and taking advantage of extra time. It is so easy to adjust to a lower level of activity and standards over a period of time, but really hard to find the strength to achieve a higher level of living. Coronavirus seems like a lesser threat, only because I have become accustomed to living with it. I realized that a lot of my actions come from fear of outside forces, changing my life in an undesirable way, therefore I turn to God for help. My actions have not begun with true fear of the Lord in my heart and desiring to live his way. In verse 19, it says that a king will not fall back to old ways, "nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, since the Lord has said to you 'you shall never again return to that way.'". The way of a king who fears the Lord moves forward into the future with Him and knowing his statues and commandments. Similarly, I need to ask God to change my heart to fear the Lord, rather than asking for changes to my outside circumstances. When my circumstances do go back to my original place of comfort, I will not fall back to my old habits.
PRAYER
Dear God, thank you for being with us throughout our times of struggle and pain, as well as providing us times of peace and stability. I pray that you will continue to mold my heart to have you as my King and listen to your ways. Although the environment around me constantly changes, help me have the strength to not make that external force be my motive for action. May I have an internal compass of knowing you and your Word, and most importantly, fear of you in my heart above all other things. I pray that I will reflect on what that means for me this week. Help me recognize the habits I have formed from my own desire for comfort and stability, and what needs to change to be more aligned with your will. Amen!
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