“These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and hills and under every green tree. You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods… You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way. But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose… to put his name and make his habitation. There you shall go, and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present… And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.
“You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes… Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings at any place that you see, but at the place that the Lord will choose… And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all that you undertake.” Deuteronomy 12:1-8,13-14a,18b
Omniscient God knows the strongest proclivities of the human heart and the highest good of heaven, and through our days on earth works to fuse them together. From the start with His chosen nation, he spelled out His way and place of blessing, then allowed the exercise of human will to choose His best. He clarified dangers and prohibitions, and alternative choices that brought His richest good. Obedience would require both dispossessing and seeking, destroying and bringing, relinquishing self and rejoicing in Him. There are always give ups and take cares when we choose to follow Christ.
The longer we live this side of eternity, the more we self-determine. A decisive will becomes default, and in the complacency of ease we neglect to inquire about God’s plans. We settle into idol-filled spaces and coddle comforts without conviction. We extend little to no effort to seek Him because we’re so accustomed to doing things our way in our time, giving what we can afford and serving when convenient.
Yet God’s intent for His children is so much more significant and sanctifying. He desires we enjoy fruitfulness and expansion in the days we undertake, but that comes with continual doing right and tending to the holy things of life. It requires taking care, not relaxing our guard. (Deuteronomy 12:20,23-26,28)
Where have we settled into an easy groove away from fellowship? How have the culture’s enticements lured us from committed worship? Do we regularly make decisions based on preference, convenience, or self-indulgence rather than the Lord’s voice, wisdom, and methods? What can we identify as pitfalls, gruff rebellions, and secret high places where we store and stroke little gods, and how will we deal with them in order to redirect our efforts God’s way?
Lord, turn my ways and places to Yours, so Yours is all the praise.
As the rain and snow 