Read Deut. 10: 12-22
I am one of those kinds of people who makes a to-do list after the fact, just to have the satisfaction of checking off items I have already done.
I am a box-checker. Sometimes, just between us, I kind of fake getting something done just so I can check it off the list.
When it comes to loving God with all our strength, faking doesn’t cut the mustard. Full effort 100% of the time is required.
When Moses spoke to the people, he said, “What does the Lord require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord…?”
It’s a list with no wiggle room. Do you meet the requirements? That word “all” makes me pause. I don’t think I do.
You can’t fake reverence. You can’t fake walking in all His ways. You can’t fake love. You can’t fake service, especially not service that involves all your heart and soul.
In the story of Pinocchio, there were a lot of things that the puppet could do like a boy would do them, bu the fact remained that a puppet is not a real boy.
Until Jesus transforms us, we are just a puppet, dead in our transgressions, unable to meet the requirements. However, in fairy tales, the magic makes boys real, and in the True Gospel, Christ keeps the requirements on our behalf, bringing us to life and helping us live in light of that Gospel.
Now, we can check those boxes with Christ’s blood. Yes, I do reverence the Lord. Yes, I do walk in all His ways. Yes, I do love Him. Yes, I do serve Him with all my heart and soul.
Because heart, soul, and mind belong to Christ, so does my strength. Now, I can live for Him.
Paul wrote to the Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”
The box has already been checked.
What false religious requirements do you try to meet? Why?
Purposefully trust Christ in each of these areas that God requires. Pray through them asking for His help.
Sarah Dixon Young 