the OT.

i admit.  when i first became a christian, i used to hate the Old Testament.  long genealogies, repetitive kings, overly extravagant psalms, and confusing prophecies.

now, i begin to see that it is alive with truth, love, and justice.

providentially, i had my bible this morning open to deuteronomy (i spelled that incorrectly when i first typed it, hahaha) after listening to mark driscoll speak from it last night.  originally, i was planning to move away from deuteronomy and read psalms or one of the epistles or something.

but, deuteronomy kept calling to me.

now i know why.

deuteronomy 6:20-25

i admit, one of the hardest struggles for me as a young christian is understanding the concept of obedience because i love God.  i understand grace, unmerited favor.  i understand works and how they are not to be used to try and earn God's favor.   If God loves me, then no matter what i do i can run back to him, right? but obedience, because i love God?  eh.

it could be that the relationship i had with my dad has made it difficult for me to understand this.  i can't really recollect any times, except in recent memories, that he commanded me to do something.

but as i read this passage, and reread it again, i think i get it.  kinda.  the israelites were led out of egypt by the sovereign grace and love of God displayed through his miracles.  he used a man, Moses, to show this.  After all this, God commanded (v.24) the Israelites to keep the decrees and to fear God so that they would prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.  Obedience to this law, passed down through Moses, would bring about righteousness.  and macathur, in his bible, says to look at verse 5 which is the basis for all of this.  "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

This passage tells me 2 things.

1.  God's commands are for our benefit.  To keep his commands is to tell sin (Bob, hahahah) and death, "go sc*** yourselves" and enjoy the prosperity that comes from being in God's perfect love and holiness.

2.  I can't do this alone.  Just as the Israelites had to look back on the miracles God performed in Egypt (and they were just signs of God, not God himself), I must look back on the cross, place every part of my sinful nature (Bob) there, and ask that God would form a heart of obedience before his cross.

have a good day!

PS - the reference to Bob is a reference to Pastor Arnold's sermon this past sunday in which he personified the sinful nature in Romans 6 & 7 to better illustrate that we are not of sin.  =P