(Sunday)
“Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back.” What a great passage of scripture that is. We have a God who loves us so much that even when we have failed, when we have been disobedient, unholy; when we have strayed away so far from Him, if we will just call out to Him, He will “gather us and bring us back.” That is the inconceivable kind of love that took Jesus to the cross for us. In our sin, while we were still sinners, He took our place. God has been loving His people from the very beginning and only wants for us to put our trust, our faith, our hope in Him and only Him. There is no other way. If only we would learn to be obedient and trust Him.
Unfortunately for us we have just as hard a time realizing that as the Israelites do. We take our eyes off of God, we start looking around at the tempting treasures in our sight and we turn away. We say we are going to be faithful and trust Him and then we find we are distracted by so many things.
God stresses in this passage of scripture to remember the law, the words Moses wrote down (what we know as the Pentateuch or the first five books of the Old Testament). Assemble the people and read them out loud to everyone, including children and foreigners. And the reason? So they can learn to fear (have reverence for) God. How will others learn if we don’t tell and/or teach the lessons in these books of the Bible. How will those who are discouraged and depressed know that “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (31:6). God is sooooo good to us. We must share His words with others.
How exciting it is to be reading the Bible together. I hope that you will impress upon the hearts of your family the importance of reading God’s word, not only on your own, but together.
Blessings
Pastor Kathy