Year 7, Day 161: Deuteronomy 10

Theological Commentary: Click Here

I’ve never noticed the order of Deuteronomy 10:10-12 before.  I’ve heard the passage and its iterations (see Micah 6:8 for the most famous one) before.  But I’ve never noticed the order as I did this time.  I've always focused on the first one in the list, fear, and then spoken about how the others stem from our fear of Him.  This time, I see the breadth of the progression.

Look at what Moses puts first.  The fear of the Lord.  This really isn’t a surprise.  Elsewhere in scripture we are told that it is the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom.  What can we do with respect to God until we have learned the fear of the Lord?

Next, we are told to walk in His ways.  This also makes sense.  How can we possible walk in His ways if we have not first learned to fear Him?  Walking in God’s ways is the natural outcome for fearing the Lord.

Third, we are told to love God.  This might seem strange, especially in today’s love-crazy world.  We might ask ourselves why loving the Lord shouldn’t come first.  To counter that, I would argue against the world that I cannot truly and deeply love what I don’t know.  I couldn’t love my spouse until I had gotten to know her a good bit.  The more I get to know her, the more my love for her increases.  What is it they say?  If you want to love a person, walk a mile in their shoes?  That’s exactly what Moses is saying here.  As we fear God, we walk in His ways.  As we walk in His ways, we learn to love God.

Fourth, we are told to serve.  Naturally, this makes sense.  How can we possibly serve if we don’t truly love?  In my mind, that’s the difference between slavery and servanthood.  Slavery is working because of the power held over you by another.  Serving is working out of the love you have for the other.  We serve God only when we love Him.

Finally, we keep His commandments.  As we fear God, walk in His ways, love Him, and serve Him we finally realize that we are keeping His commandments.  When we do these things, we get to the fifth one!  I think this is a fabulous progression, and a new approach for me.

Finally, I think that it is important to her the advice that Moses gives to the people after he finishes speaking to them about what I discussed above.  Moses says to them, “Circumcise your hearts.”  He doesn’t tell them to do something physical.  For me, this is proof that God cares more about the state of our hearts than he cares about the stuff we do.  He cares more about our relationship with him than He cares about where we worship, or what version of the Bible we read, or how many times we fast in a week.  He cares about the condition of our heart.

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