Wednesday, June 16, 2021
Today’s Scripture
Today’s Author
Chas Gowing
Moses is giving farewell speeches to the people. Their wanderings are over. Moses will not go into the promised land with them. What do the people need? They need an identity.
Cultural identity is made up of formal and informal rules, practices and rituals, ways of thought. Indeed, much of Deuteronomy is laws about how to live. More importantly, though, their identity is about who they follow: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone.” They are not Moses’ people; they are the Lord’s people, the people of the covenant from Mount Horeb. They will not follow the gods of the people of the land; they worship the Lord alone. This is beyond a covenant, a statement of their intended behaviors. This is a statement of who they are and whose they are - their essential identity. The command is to love the Lord with all their hearts and souls and might. They are to let this identity permeate all that they are and all that they do from the rising from their beds to the raising of their children - in public and in private.
This is a corporate statement of identity—the Lord is our God. This is our identity, too. Our God is the Lord. We are the people who love the Lord. We gather to worship our Lord. We teach our children to love our Lord. Our love of the Lord and the Lord’s love of us permeates all that we are and all that we do.
Summer Devotional
God Goes With Us
This summer’s devotional is a walk through the Bible. Join our pastors and staff for daily reflections on scripture passages from Genesis to Revelation. In the beginning, God said, “I will be your God and you will be my people.” Come and see how this covenant promise changes through time yet remains steadfast from generation to generation.
Each Sunday, Chris Holmes will share a short message on the texts for the week, and written reflections will go out every Monday through Thursday morning.
We wish you blessings and deeper faith this summer!
