Deuteronomy 5:1-6:25
Luke 7:11-35
Psalm 68:19-35
Proverbs 11:29-31
The Book of Deuteronomy is Moses's goodbye to the Israelites. He's come a long way - from a murderer who fled Egypt, to a coward who refused God's commission (multiple times!), to the man to whom God spoke, and to whom the Israelites looked for leadership, a man transformed by his relationship with God. God has told him his journey has come to an end, and he's giving the Israelites the best advice he can - today, the 10 Commandments among other things. And he speaks with such conviction. Why? Because he isn't going by something someone else has told him, or something he's read in a scroll somewhere - he's going by his own experience with God. The time he spent with God, the conversations they had, the manifestations of God's presence and power and intervention in the Israelites' lives.
But even as he comes to the end of an amazing life, Moses is worried - about the children who would not have experienced God's salvation in Egypt and the victories God gave them as they made their way to the promised land. He worried that they would be ignorant of all God had done and that they would not have the same conviction about God's existence, authority and love. He worried they would not know His signs and wonders, great and terrible. And they would fall away. So he exhorted the Israelites to bear witness to God, in the words they used, the stories they told, the lives they led and the examples they bore. They were to testify to their children in word and deed.
True for the Israelites then, true for us today. I am terrified to think how often my words and actions have been inconsistent, and so have not given witness regarding God's goodness to my kids. Father may my words and my actions be consistent, and may they consistently testify to Your existence, Your love and Your goodness.
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