February 6 - Joshua 22:5

February 6 - Joshua 22:5

Take good care to observe the commandment and instruction that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, and to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

To love. To walk.  To keep.  To hold fast.  To serve.

These words are similar to those we read in Deuteronomy 10:12-13.  Joshua’s leadership of the Israelites required that he remind them of their responsibility to the relationship they had with God.  In the early days of this relationship, it was never about legalism, it was about devotion and how they could take pride in their covenant relationship.

Much like we take great pride in the things we do well and live by the honor of always doing our best in our work and our lives, the Israelites felt great pride in their covenant with God. 

The reason that God gave Israel the Law was to help them express their love for Him.  They obeyed Him because they made a choice to do so.  While the progression of history found them obeying because it was the thing to do, the early relationship was because they desired to do nothing other than obey the Lord God who delivered them from Egypt, the Creator of all and their Sustainer.

This is the same relationship that we began with God.  We obey and worship Him because we love Him.  He saved us from our sins and offered us a new life that leads to eternity.  Yet many of us are like the Ephesian Church in Revelation 2.  We have forsaken our first love (Rev. 2:4).  We get caught up in the rules and the relationships we have with everyone else and have forgotten that the ‘love relationship’ with God is primary.  When that is fully in place, when we fully love God and are completely confident in His love for us, there is no need for rules. 

This is what Paul tried to teach in all of His letters and what Jesus Christ continually reiterated.  Love is all that is needed.  Love for God, love for each other.  When that is all there is, that is all that is needed.  Everything else becomes unimportant.