Every good gift . . .

 

 

READ Deuteronomy 5–8

Before Easter we heard seven sermons on the Seven Deadly sins, probably the best seven I’ve ever heard. We came away more deeply informed, convicted in some ways, and encouraged to be more obedient. The major truth in all of them was that God instructs us for our good — because sin is deadly. It turns us from trusting God to self, and if persisted, sin will destroy all relationships and even our lives.

Today’s reading reviews the Ten Commandments. I read them remembering the purpose of the Law: it is not to save us, but to show us how to live securely in God’s care by avoiding a lifestyle that leads to death. The best way to live is:

“You shall have no other gods before me . . . no carved image (idols) . . . not take the name of the Lord your God in vain . . . observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy and to remember you were a slave and the Lord your God brought you out from there . . . Honor your father and your mother . . . you shall not murder . . . you shall not commit adultery . . . you shall not steal . . . you shall not bear false witness . . . and you shall not covet . . . .” (Deuteronomy 5:7–21)

The people agreed and the Lord said, “I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!” (Deuteronomy 5:28–29) and “You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.” (Deuteronomy 5:33)

Again, these laws were not to appease God and provide salvation from sin; they were to keep God’s people living in such a way that life was good rather than a struggle. The motive was their love for Him and their focus on Him:

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4–9)

These laws forbid going after other gods and putting the Lord to the test. They must do right and deal with all evil in the land, able to all that God had promised them. In other words, sin blocks God’s blessing — because He must deal with the sin before His blessings can flow. Sin is like sand in a garden hose.

“And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock. And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. And you shall consume all the peoples that the Lord your God will give over to you. Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you. (Deuteronomy 7:12–16)

It is no different for those saved from sin through faith in Jesus Christ. God leads us through the wilderness of life, humbles and tests our obedience (Deuteronomy 8:2) and asks that we glorify Him as the One who gives us all we have, not boasting that we did it ourselves and thus break that first commandment. (Deuteronomy 8:17–19)

It is easy to want the credit, get the glory, pat myself on the back, but more and more I realize that every breath I take is by the grace of God, every victory over sin, every good gift, every moment of peace and joy, every time I worship and praise Him. Apart from Jesus, I am like the pagans of old. With Jesus, there is nothing I cannot do, except sin and be selfish. But by His grace, He flushes away the sand and makes the water of life flow freely.