vs. 2-3
A book I was reading this afternoon sent me to Deuteronomy 8:2. I was surprised to find it was a chapter I had marked with a sticky note labeled with exclamations of what a great chapter it is and had summed up as "the point of the wilderness."
The chapter is in context of several chapters of Moses speaking to the Israelites with the purpose of reminding them of the commandments God gave them. In chapter 5, Moses repeated the commandments for them, and chapter 6 has these wonderful verses that I love:
Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.I'm not really sure what it is about these verses. Jesus would later affirm that "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" is the greatest commandment. That's part of what resonates. Another part is that it always reminds me of my grandparents because my Papaw labeled almost all the pictures in their house with Scripture. When I hear the words from the Psalms "Deep cries out to deep" I see the image of a waterfall my Papaw chose to label with those words. And these verses make me want to be more like my Papaw, labeling everything in my life with the words and commandments of the Lord. I think too that I love it because "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand" speaks to the part of me that says "I should have that tattooed on my arm" all the time when talking about Scripture and lessons God has had to walk me through more times than it should take anyone to learn anything. I want to love the Lord my God with all my heart and all my soul and all my might. I don't. I forget so fast. So I get why even the one greatest commandment needs to be constantly on my heart, the topic of conversation all day, written on the very door of my house. If I ever really did get one of my favorite verses or lessons tattooed on my arm, I would still forget it daily. Isn't that just who we are?
And I went off topic there, but I didn't really because that's the whole point of these chapters leading up to Deuteronomy 8: Remember. Remember the commandments. Remember what God has done and Who He Is. So back to Deuteronomy 8 and the point of the wilderness and remembering it, in the words of Scripture/my paraphrases scribbled in the margin:
- to humble you
- to test you
- to know what's in your heart, whether you would keep the commandments
- to demonstrate provision
- to show man lives not by bread alone but by what proceeds from the mouth of the Lord
- to show God disciplines
- so you would walk in God's ways and fear Him
- to do good for you in the end.
Flipping through Deuteronomy, I see that my notes and highlights are again and again remember and commandments. But then there is also covenant again and again, each one a reminder of God's faithfulness and goodness.
In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. (vs. 16)In the words of Sara Groves, who in my opinion, outside of Scripture, always puts it best, "And if it comes too quick, I might not appreciate it. Is that the reason behind all this time and sand? And if it comes too quick, I might not recognize it. Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?"
I think yes. And I think the process is necessary. For us to learn Who God Is and let Him tune our hearts to love Him. For us to learn to trust in His provision. For our good in the end.
I write this hoping maybe, by His grace, I will remember a little more quickly next time the reason behind each moment in the wilderness.
