• Fear the Lord Your God
• Walk in All His Ways
• Love Him
• Serve the Lord With All Your Heart
• Keep the Lord’s Commandments

FYI, I used to get bogged down when reading Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, but as I study the entire Bible more, I have been getting so much out of Deuteronomy, especially when I spend time searching for verses on related topics in both the Old and New Testaments.

Do you ever wonder what God wants from you? It is true that we can never work our way into Heaven or God’s graces. Our salvation is a gift from God. That doesn’t mean, however, that God wants nothing from us. He wants us to live life in particular ways for both His glory and our good.

This passage, which I read last night, is written to Israel, but it parallels commands given to us in the New Testament. It is a concise description of what God wants from all of His followers. I’ll go through each of the commands and look at similar commands given to Christians in the New Testament.

“Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? (Deuteronomy 10:12-13)

Fear God. Walk with God. Love God. Serve God. Obey God. That sums up our walk with Jesus pretty well.

§Fear the Lord Your God

The command to fear God is scattered throughout the Bible. Possibly the most quoted is this:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;A good understanding have all those who do His commandments;His praise endures forever. (Psalm 111:10) {emphasis mine}

This fear isn’t the same as fear of a natural disaster or a wild animal. It is more like the fear a toddler has of his father. It is fear of his father’s knowledge and strength. It is the fear of disappointing daddy. The fear isn’t a fear of evil intent, but of the ability to cause harm if desired. God is holy. God is omnipotent. God could annihilate us with a word, but instead upholds us by His power. We know we deserve punishment. We know there is nothing we can do to stop punishment, but we also know that God loves us and seeks our good.

We need to have the right kind of fear and fear the correct things.

“I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! (Luke 12:4-5)

God knows that a proper fear of Him leads us to trust in Him and to turn to Him. A proper fear leads to obedience. In the end, God will even send a final warning to those on the Earth to fear Him and turn to Him.

And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.” (Revelation 14:6-7) {emphasis mine}

§Walk in All His Ways

Jesus was constantly calling people to follow Him.

As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. (Mark 1:16-18)

When we walk in the ways of Jesus, it will require that we leave many of our old ways behind. We can’t follow Jesus if we never change. Walking with Jesus requires sacrifice, but in the end, that sacrifice will be well rewarded.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. (Matthew 16:24)

Jesus calls us to follow Him, but only the true believers will consistently follow Him over the long haul because only they truly hear His voice.

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. (John 10:27-28)

In Jesus’s incarnation, He sets the perfect example for how we should live. One example is His modeling serving others.

And there arose also a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am among you as the one who serves. (Luke 22:24-27)

Jesus served His disciples, who were also His creation. In the same way, He calls us to serve each other.

So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” (John 21:21-22)

We are all called to walk in the way of Jesus, but this walk will not look identical. Some walks may be more public, while others may be more in the background. Still, the entire body of Christ is needed to fulfill God’s plan for us. We need not worry so much about what others are doing, but focus on what Jesus is doing, and where He is leading us. Will you obey His command to “Follow me?”

§Love Him

I could make this section really short. The following quote of Jesus describes the greatest commandment. Jesus clearly gives the command to love God. Of course, I’m not the best at being brief, so I’ll go into much more detail.

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. (Matthew 22:36-38) {emphasis mine}

Of all the commandments in the Bible, the greatest is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” If we follow this command, we will find it easy to obey all of His other commands.

This next passage gives a similar command, but in the negative.

“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. (Matthew 10:37)

God should always be our greatest love—our first love. Nothing should be of higher importance than loving and serving God. We should love our families. We should love fellow believers. We should even have love for the lost, but none of these loves should surpass the love we have for God. Anything or anyone that we love more becomes an idol.

Amazingly, this love goes both ways.

for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father. (John 6:27)

The Father loves that we love Jesus. We love Jesus and the Father because He loved us.

We love, because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

When our God and Creator loves us so much, how could we not also love Him in return?

Sadly, many fail to love God. They may claim to follow Him, but their actions expose their hearts.

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. (John 8:42)

Although we are to love God above all else, we are also called to love others just as God loves us. Just as a husband wouldn’t like it if his wife hated his mother, siblings, or children. In the same way, God doesn’t like it if we dislike His children.

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:12-13) {emphasis mine}

We need to make sure we don’t become like the church in Ephesus.

But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. (Revelation 2:4)

Love God with all your heart.

§Serve the Lord With All Your Heart

Jesus gives multiple examples of how we are to serve Him by serving others. This one was at the end of His earthly ministry, right before dying on the cross.

Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?” … So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. (John 13:5-6a,12-15)

Normally, foot washing was done by the lowest servant. None of His disciples had offered to wash the others’ feet, but Jesus, their Creator, lowered Himself to wash their feet. This isn’t specifically about foot washing. It is about being humble and serving others, even if it isn’t “our job” or it is “below” our station. All servants of the Most High God will serve others. That is our calling.

We are also told to do everything for His glory.

Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31) {emphasis mine}

When we take care of our families well, we glorify God. When we work hard at our jobs and go above and beyond what is required, we glorify God. When we help others, we glorify God. All of our daily tasks should be done in a way that glorifies God. Even our entertainment should glorify God.

If we are doing everything for God’s glory, we also need to do it “in the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. (Colossians 3:17) {emphasis mine}

Jesus counts our service to others in His name as serving Him.

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ (Matthew 25:34-40) {emphasis mine}

We are to serve Jesus by serving others in His name. We need to be careful that our service to others is done not only to help others, but also to glorify God and to draw them to Him. We need to make sure that we are not using His name when we are doing a shoddy job because that dishonors Him.

If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. (John 12:26)

§Keep the Lord’s Commandments

God not only commands us to obey His commandments, but also our obedience demonstrates our love for Him.

He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” (John 14:21)

God loves obedient children. His commandments are given for our good and to accomplish His very good plan. When we disobey, we harm ourselves and others. We disappoint our Savior.

He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. (John 14:24)

We all mess up occasionally, but if your life is mostly in disobedience to God, you need to question your actual relationship with God. Have you truly repented of your sins against your God? Have you truly believed His Word and what Jesus did for you? Have you truly chosen to follow your Creator and Savior?

You are My friends if you do what I command you. (John 15:14)

If you are a true child of God, you will obey God most of the time. You will be growing in faithfulness. You will repent and turn back to Jesus when you make bad choices.

May God draw us all closer to Him so we can fear Him, follow Him, love Him, serve Him, and obey Him all the days of our lives. May God lead you into closer fellowship with Him so your life is a walking Gospel message to those around you. May the people around you see you and see Jesus in you.

Trust Jesus

FYI, I recently bought an editor (ProWritingAid) to help me edit my book (especially my comma errors). I had been relying on friends and family, but it was taking so much time, and it is hard to find every nitpicking error. I don’t fret over minor errors in a free blog post, but feel anyone who spends money on a book deserves a well-polished book. Some suggestions, however, turn personal writing into efficient, vanilla prose. I’m trying to take the useful suggestions and ignore the ones that cause my writing to lose my personal flavor or that harm my intended meaning. Please let me know if you notice a difference and whether that difference is good or bad, so I know whether I should continue using it on my blog posts.

I will never use AI to compose my posts. They are used for spelling and grammatical errors only.