Be Careful And Take To Heart

Deuteronomy 4: 6, 9, 15, 23, 39

... Observe them carefully ...
... Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely ...
... Watch yourselves very carefully ...
... Be careful not to forget ...
... Acknowledge and take to heart ...

This Book is called, "The Second Giving of the Law." Moses gave the Law to the people when they came out of Egypt, at Mount Sinai, 40 years previous to this time. 

Now they are getting ready to enter the Promised Land, and Moses wanted to make sure that they all knew what was expected of them. So he went over all the commandments, regulations, and precepts again, a second time. 

Moses couldn't see into the future any more than we can, but he knew these people. People everywhere need reminders in order to stay on track. These Israelites were no different. 

I am impressed with Moses' repeating to them so often to be careful, watch themselves, not forget. I also need to observe, to be careful, to watch, to acknowledge, to take to heart, to remember, to be mindful, and to not forget. 

The Book of Judges tells us the story of the twelve tribes in the Promised Land before they had a king. God wanted to be their King, and when they did obey His Law and followed His ways in their individual and national life, God blessed them with great abundance. But when they became prosperous, their focus came off of God and on to their own possessions, that they had got them themselves. Then they got off track and looked at the other peoples ways, and fell into their attitudes and practices. 

So God allowed their neighbors to enslave them. Then they cried out to God and turned back to Him, and God sent a Judge, a military leader to win their freedom. So they worshipped God again, and He blessed them again.

This cycle went around repeatedly, over and over, round and round. 

This shows how easy it is for riches to blind us to God's love for us. Even when we have personally seen His goodness and miracles in our own lives, over time the excitement fades, our focus changes, and we can find ourselves in some kind of bondage. 

That's why, the love of money is the root of many kinds of evil (I Timothy 6:10), and Jesus said that, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24 and Mark 10:25); because riches and material possessions tend to draw our attention onto them, instead of humbly seeking God. 

So we need to be constantly reminded to keep our focus on what is most important: our life itself, which is spiritual, and our relationship with our Father. 

Even when we do things His way and He allows our abundance to multiply, we really do need to continually welcome Him into our moments, to share every joy, every sorrow, every fun time, every hard time, everything we look at and listen to. Then we will be more likely to use that prosperity to promote His Kingdom, instead of our own comfort. 

God blesses us so we can bless others. Money is not an end in itself, it's only a tool. We will give account for how we have used it (see for example, Matthew 25:14-30; the Parable of the Talents). So I want to be careful to use whatever my Father grants me to use primarily for others' benefit, and if my income increases, I will not upgrade my own lifestyle but live at the same level. 

I would love to be able to finance God's Kingdom; the Lord knows that our enemy certainly has been financing his. 

O my Father, I am weak--please strengthen me with Your strength, for I have none of my own! Teach me how to observe, to see with Your eyes; to be careful to keep my focus on You; to watch out for stumbling stones and potholes in my path; to acknowledge Your authority in my life; to take to heart all the lessons You are teaching me; to remember Who You are and Your goodness to me every moment; to be mindful of each step I take with my hand in Yours; and to never forget that I am Yours and You are mine, for time and all eternity!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!