“So now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? Only to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being. Although heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to the LORD your God, the earth with all that is in it, yet the LORD set his heart in love on your ancestors alone and chose you, their descendants after them, out of all the peoples, as it is today. Circumcise, then the foreskin of your heart, and do not be stubborn any longer. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the LORD your God; him alone you shall worship; to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise; he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen. Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy persons; and now the LORD your God has made you numerous as the stars in heaven.” Deuteronomy 10:12-22
Deep in the Lenten season, a time where we take a long intentional look at our relationship with God this passage gives us pause, something to chew on like a gristled piece of steak. Am I, do I walk with God, do all He requires of me; is my heart like the heart of God? Do I worship fully and completely – only God? Do I love and serve God with abandon? Do I bare my soul to God? Am I searching for opportunities to and do I extend justice and mercy to widows, orphans, homeless and hungry? O that I live the way God desires and I intend! Forgive me Lord, for I have sinned!