It’s complicated. Not.

Obedience. None of us are very good at that, are we? It seems to be an intrinsic part of human nature to not want to do what we are told to do. That’s the free will part of us, I guess, the independent part that wants to do it my way. We accept that there are different ways to do things, but none of them are as good as our own way, obviously. And sometimes it’s as if we want to be told how to get fit or thin or smart or happy, but then come up with a million and one excuses as to why that particular way won’t work for us.

But what if we are being told what to do by the one who created the universe? The one who created each individual uniquely differently and knows each one of us better than we know ourselves. What if we are being asked to obey the one who brought the whole world into being and really does know the best way to sustain life? What if he really is the way, the truth and the life? What then? Then surely doing it his way makes sense. Surely obeying this creator is the way to live life to the full.

It takes trust of course. Trust that he really does know what he is doing. Trust that he wants the best for each one of us. That he’s not playing with us. That he loves us more than we can ever imagine. Trust that he is who he says he is and can complete all that he has promised.

This is what Deuteronomy 4 is all about.

Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.  Deuteronomy 4:1-2

Firstly hear. Learn. To obey, we first need to know the rules.

Then follow. Follow the rules so that you may live. Live life to the full. Life this life (the only life you have) as God intended. Choose life.

Obey so that you may go in and taken possession of the land God is giving you. God only knows what your ‘land’ looks like – a land filled with your hopes and dreams and personal adventures and opportunities to shine and flourish and be the very best you you can be.

It’s simple. Keep the rules. Obey the commands. Don’t add to them. Don’t take away from them. This is really really important. I’ve been around different groups of Christians enough to see how we emphasis the teaching that suit us and ignore the bits that don’t. We make some rules and teachings more important than others. We even make some up to suit our cultural preferences. We put people off with a package of our own making that they do not feel able to accept. Or we draw people to faith with a watered down view of God that never allows them to enter into the fullness of life that God has to offer.

As I’ve already said, it’s easy to complicate things unnecessarily to get out of doing the right thing. We come up with excuses or try to confuse the issue to make it easier to avoid having to obey. It actually all boils down to love, of course. As Jesus teaches –

 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (a quote from Deuteronomy). The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (a quote from Leviticus). There is no commandment greater than these.  Mark 12:30-31

Not romantic, soft, ineffectual love. But tough, sacrificial, uncomfortable, messy love that leads us into all sorts of unfamiliar and scary territory – and yet it is always there that we find God already at work, waiting to meet us and work through us and show us real life and real love.

And why should the Israelites obey the Lord? Because of what God has done.

You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did…….Deuteronomy 4:3

They have seen God in action. So have we.

They have seen God keep his promises and protect them from danger and provide for all their needs. So have we.

Maybe we can look back over events in our own lives and see how God has been there for us. Or maybe we cannot identify God at work in our own lives, but we have all seen and heard what God has done through people of faith throughout history and in the lives of people of faith in our communities today.

They (and we) must not forget and must not let the memory fade and must pass on stories from generation to generation. They (and we) must remember.

Why should the Israelites obey the Lord? Because others will see how amazing their God is.

What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?  Deuteronomy 4:7-8

This God is different from any other god. This is our God.

This God is near and listens and sets out great rules for life. This is our God.

The temptation will be to make idols that represent God. To try to understand God and make him like us and give him form and describe his appearance. The temptation will be to worship all that God has created rather than the Creator himself. God doesn’t want anything to distract us from worshipping him and him alone. So whatever we have in our church services needs not to be a distraction and draw attention to people and things, but serve 100% to point us to God and help us to worship him 100%.

Moses is looking forward to a time where the tribes will be scattered and this time they have lived through in the wilderness will be a distant memory. Then it will be harder to remember. Then it will be harder to follow the rules. Then it will be harder not to be distracted.

There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him. For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.  Deuteronomy 4:28-31

These distractions promise much and deliver little. They do not satisfy. The good news is it is never too late to turn to God. If you seek God, you will find him. He is merciful. He doesn’t abandon or destroy or forget.

I know people who are yearning to ‘find God’. They complicate it and put obstacles in the way, but deep down they would love to believe. They have been hurt and are scared of getting hurt again. They have been given wrong teaching that they could not find a way to follow and therefore now struggle to know the truth and let go of the lies.

I believe that God is there waiting to be found. There is nothing he wants more. This could be the year for all of us to discover more and trust more and obey more – and enter into the fullness of life that God has in store for each one of us.

And how can I be so sure.

Simple. Because the Lord is God.

Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?

You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other. From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire. 37 Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength, to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today.

Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.  Deuteronomy 4:32-40

Wow! What an amazing passage. And you see, in 50 years of attending church and dipping into the Bible, I have never heard that passage preached on or come across it before. I love this journey!

So this is my heartfelt prayer for each one of us for 2015 –

Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

And let’s see where this journey with God takes us!