SPIRITUAL SURVIVAL

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.

So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. Then Moses commanded them: "At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns — so they can listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."

Deuteronomy 31:9-13

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

Moses was about to die, never reaching the Promised Land. He had spent much of his life serving the Lord by acting as a faithful mouthpiece. God would tell Moses what to tell His people and Moses would obey, ensuring Israel knew all of God’s laws, commands and expectations. Now that he was soon to be gone from them, he wanted to make sure the people were always reminded of what God said.

So Moses wrote down the law and “gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel”. He gave them the following instructions:

"At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing.”

At the appointed time, all “men, women and children, and…aliens” were to be assembled to listen to the reading of the law so they would “learn to fear the Lord…and follow carefully all the words of (His) law”. Keep in mind that there were stern warnings against disobedient living and God expected His people to know there were serious consequences if they chose to live apart from Him. You’ll note that special emphasis was placed on the children…the next generation of Israelites. God expected His laws and expectations to stay embedded in the minds of His people. And He still expects it today.

Indeed, we are to read God’s word and be reminded of His expectations as well. Keep in mind that we have many more words from God than Israel had. The first five books of the bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, comprise what is known as the Pentateuch or Books of the Law. Considering that there are 66 books in the bible, you can see where reviewing all of God’s word today every seven years just wouldn’t cut it. No…we need to get into the word daily, allowing God to continuously remind us how He wants us to live and serve Him. Consider these words from Jesus that reinforce this:

The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Matthew 4:3-4

If you don’t eat, you will become physically ill and die of starvation eventually. We must eat to survive that a fact of life.

But there’s another fact of life as well. We can’t simply live on food alone.

I say this because we have a spiritual part of us that is equally important, if not more so, than the physical one. And we can only survive spiritually through “every word that comes from the mouth of God”. We know it because Jesus said it. It is truth.

So how are you doing in your spiritual life? Have you been feeding yourself daily from the Word of God, the Word that Jesus said we need to survive? Are you spiritually sick or healthy?

Friends, just as we make time to eat every day to survive so too do we need to make time daily for God’s Word. For our very spiritual survival depends on it. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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