Dt. 6: Love God

Deuteronomy 6:10-12 "When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."

The first few verses of chapter 6 deal with the permanence God intends for His people and for their land. For generations to come, God plans for them to be prosperous, to be happy, and to be "well." To live a long life. All this milk and honey is theirs, on condition that they follow His commands and decrees. God indicates that He is not a temporal God, to set things in motion, and then leave, contradicting deistic philosophy. God shows here that He is in it to win it, until forever. That's comforting, an idea that not only will one be able to trust God to provide for him in this life, but also to provide for the lives of his descendants. It also suggests that life is short, and God is forever. God will be permanent and unchanging.

How should one "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength?" Those three aspects of a person's life are probably the most intimate, the most conspicuous and the most defining of anyone. And how are they to be used? To love God. Have you thought about what you do with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength? I suggest that this is how God loves, with all His heart, with all His soul, and with all His strength. His defining characteristic would then have to be love. Does God need to be loved? Maybe that's the wrong question. Maybe its not a question at all. Needs imply lack. I believe God will be loved. God must be loved.

I just love verses 10 through 12. It is a reminder of who didn't build the promised land. Vast land, flourishing cities, good houses filled with good things, wells and vineyards and olive groves...everything needed for life. And none of it was done by the heirs. Nothing was done by those who inherited the above good things. It was given, provided. Taken from someone else, and given over to Israel. When these things are enjoyed, it is God who must be remembered and thanked.

Massah, the place where the Israelites quarreled over whether God was with them is invoked here as an example of how not to behave. Rather, the people can trust that God will always be among them, and the easiest reminder is that have everything they need. Their thirst will be quenched.

Moses ends the chapter with a sort of history lesson, how to explain to one's children why they do these things they do, with the sacrifices and the rituals and the rules. It is so that they can be reminded themselves as they teach their children about their history, about how they were slaves in Egypt, how they were delivered for, watched over, and given this promised land. Children would be significantly important in this way, to God, and to the people.