[Daily Devotion] March 13th, 2018

These verses in Deuteronomy (ch. 5-7) cover the giving of the ten commandments and expound upon their meaning for the people of Israel. The Israelites knew that obedience to the commandments was required to receive God’s blessings within the Promised Land. The verse cited above, known as the Shema, succinctly reveals the core of the commandments. All else falls into place when we love God totally. Traditionally, Jewish people recite the Shema for both morning and evening prayers. The custom is also to recite it just prior to death. The Shema is the foundation for all of faith and is the distillation of the ten commandments. Jesus undoubtedly learned the Shema in His youth and it was the core of His message during his ministry.

Throughout the Old Testament we see that God will be with His people and requires their obedience. Blessings occur when the covenant relationship is maintained and suffering occurs when that covenant is broken. God was present with His people throughout their long journey and will be with them in the Promised Land. The ten commandments provided a guideline for maintaining the covenant relationship. It is still relevant for us today as they establish God as the only God, define our relationship with Him and other people and thus provide a framework for living. We see all around us a broken relationship with our earth and other people in part due to this loss of a covenant relationship.

How can we restore our relationship with God? The ten commandments offer us one guideline for living as well as accepting with faith the restoration that Jesus offers through His life and death. The Israelites were instructed to teach their children the Shema and to impress it upon their own hearts. It was to be written upon their person and inscribed into their homes. Do we follow those guidelines today? How would our lives differ if that were the case?

Heavenly Father, we praise you as God of all the universe as creator and sustainer of all life. We confess that too often we fail to give you our whole selves. Help us to restore our relationship with you and other people. Impress your word upon our hearts. In Jesus Christ. Amen.