Deuteronomy 29 - Keeping my devotion to God

Setting – Moses provides the covenant made between the Lord and Israel (v. 12, 13), “…that you may enter into the covenant with the LORD your God, and into His oath which the LORD your God is making with you today, in order that He may establish you today as His people and that He may be your God…”

Content – God established His covenant with current and future Israel. Moses states how God brought them through the wilderness with clothes and sandals that didn’t wear out. And how they defeated the king of Heshbon and Og.
Once again a reminder was given for those who didn’t serve God and went after other gods. Instead of receiving blessing (v. 20), “…rather the anger of the LORD and His jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse which is written in this book will rest on him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven.” If Israel disobeys, their land will be like Sodom and Gomorrah. People will ask why the land was the way it was (v. 25, 26), “'Because they forsook the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. 'They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they have not known and whom He had not allotted to them.”

Application – God wants our devotion. He doesn’t want us to serve other idols. Our modern day idols are prestige, money, pleasures, etc. We loose focus on what is important. We love the blessings of God, but seem to want what the ‘other nations’ (other people in today’s culture) have. Just like a parent to a child, the child reaches for things that are harmful to them, but they fuss because they can’t get what they want. This is so true of us today. We cry to God because we don’t get the things we want.
I don’t cry out to God for helping me with my devotion to Him. I don’t cry out to God for helping me to reach the lost, or for the protection of the church. I know that God is patient with me, but I still need to keep my devotion (covenant) with Him. This means that I daily devote myself to Him. This comes in the form of prayer, time in His word and service/ministry to Him, as well as leading my family to the same commitment to this devotion (covenant).

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