DECLARATION DAY

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The Lord your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have declared this day that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in his ways, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey him. And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as He promised.

Deuteronomy 26:16-19

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Moses had passed many commands and expectations from God to the people of Israel. All that the Lord said through Moses was intended to prepare Israel to live as God expected as He gave them the land flowing with milk and honey…the land He promised…the blessed land that they would inhabit. This expectation was sealed as Moses told Israel, “The Lord your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Did you hear those words? Heart and soul. That means to follow His decrees and laws with every fiber of one’s being…to be guided and led fully by His principles and His alone.

To do this means one needs to commit and stay committed to the Lord. When one has surrendered heart and soul to the Lord, they have in turn surrendered their will for His. They have moved over and let God take the wheel, allowing Him to drive them where He wants them to be…to go where He wants them to go…and to do what he wants them to do.

As we see in our passage, Israel proclaims that they are ready to make this kind of sacrifice. For they have a declaration day…a day when they vowed “that the Lord (was their) God and that (they would) walk in his ways, that (they would) keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that (they would) obey him.” In other words, they vowed that their heart and soul would be grounded in the Lord.

Well, as we see, God also made it His declaration day…for He vowed that the people of Israel were “His people, His treasured possession”. He also promised that He would “set (Israel) in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations…and that (Israel would) be a people holy to the Lord your God.”

Yes…all seemed to be well as Israel was to enter Canaan…and it was. But don’t think it stayed that way. We will see it doesn’t. Why? Because Israel stopped following God with their heart and soul…they forgot all about their declaration day and subsequently lost the favor that God declared in turn.

So how about us?

Have we had our declaration day with the Lord? If so, how have we done in fulfilling our promises? Have we followed through with all our heart and soul? Or have we allowed Satan and sin to steal away what we vowed to give God?

Likewise, have we forgotten the promises God made? Have we lost sight of His word…His will…His way? Have we decided that the world’s offerings are far more important and enjoyable than the Lord’s?

Friends, if we have lost our bearing...if we have wandered off of the narrow path of righteousness that God has laid out for us…if we have forsaken His way for the ways of the world, then it’s time for us to get back on track. It’s time for us to recommit…to repent and seek to return to the ways of the Lord. It’s time for a new declaration day…a renewal of our commitment to Father, Son and Holy Spirit…not just with a part of us but with our heart and soul. Nothing short of that will do. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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