Deuteronomy!!

Don't you just love the book of Deuteronomy? Isn't it so full of God's love for His people? This morning I felt as though I had arrived at the summit explanation of what it means to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure", as Paul writes to the Philippians.

Listen to this in Deuteronomy 31: And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. I can love the Lord my God because he has changed my heart, because He has first loved me, as John says.

Further on, Moses says this: For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. . . . But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. It is possible to obey God, not because we are strong or self-disciplined or naturally good and holy or from good stock or better than others. It is possible to obey God because of one thing: God has changed me, and is changing me.

Remember 2 Corinthians 3:18? We are being changed into His image as we behold His glory. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

So go ahead and obey. Do it well and fully and worshipfully. But don't ever think that you obey because you want to. It is because God has changed your heart and given you the power to do what you ought to have done all along. 'Tis mercy all, so rich and free.