Courtney Gilmore What does the Lord your God require of you but 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 and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?
Deuteronomy 10:12-13
So, all that He require of us is to fear Him, do everything He says, love and serve Him wholeheartedly, and keep all His commands and laws? Initially it sounded like He doesn’t really require all that much. But when we hear it all spelled out we’re like, okay, actually that sounds like quite a lot. So, yes, quite a lot is required of God’s children. But what He gives to us, is so much more than what He requires.
Should we really expect Him to give freely to us without asking anything in return? Does He say, “I love you. You are Mine. Now go on about your life and I will protect and bless you.” No. That’s just not how it works. Yet many people today, hear about God and His saving grace, they recognize their sin and need for a Savior, they go to church and are baptized, then they go on with their lives and expect God to love, protect, and bless them. Is that a fair expectation?
God is so pleased that we’ve have realized our sin and accepted the sacrifice of Jesus, but now something is required of us. We have to accept Him as Savior and LORD, not just Savior.
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9
God is Worthy
If we believe God to be our Creator, then we must understand that He has a certain authority over us. The one that creates is over the one that’s created. When we belong to someone, they have a say in our lives. We belong to our parents and to our employers and they both have a say. So, when we come to the realization that He is the Lord (the boss) to whom all heaven and earth belong, we understand how He has the right to ask so much of us.
Who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” Does the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
Romans 9:20-21
Once we realize He is our Creator, then we understand His authority. Then, when we see His power, we fear enough to obey.
You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them. But the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt with great power and an outstretched arm, Him you shall fear, Him you shall worship, and to Him you shall offer sacrifice. The statutes, the ordinances, the law, and the commandment which He wrote for you, you shall be careful to observe forever. You shall not fear other gods. But the Lord your God you shall fear and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies.
2 Kings 17:35-39
After we feel His love towards us and see Him do miraculous things just for us, then we fall in love with Him in return.
We love Him because He first loved us.
1 John 4:19
Our Reasonable Response
So, it sounds like He is asking a lot. But when we really understand who He is and what He does, then these things just naturally follow and are really should be our only reasonable response.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
Romans 12:1
Following Him no longer feels like an obligation, but a strong desire to return the love He has for us back to Him.
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments and they are not burdensome.
1 John 5:3
As we spend time with Him and experience His greatness, impartiality, and justice, we begin to act with justice and impartiality towards each other, as He also commanded.
Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us.
Ephesians 5:2
When we see His kindness towards those who have no father or husband, to those who feel out of place or without a home to call their own, we have compassion on them, loving and helping them just as He does.
If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us.
1 John 4:12
Let This Encourage You
Now, if you read all these requirements and you understand why God asks so much of us, but now feel guilty because you don’t love or serve Him like you should, know this is normal and there’s something you can do about it. Love is a feeling yes, but growing love requires action. So most likely, if you don’t love or serve God as you should, it’s because you just don’t know Him that well yet.
So, just seek to know Him better. Read His Word even if you don’t “feel” like it. Pay attention to who He is and what He does as you are reading. Highlight or make a list if it helps you.
Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:12-13
Now meditate on those things. Praise Him for what you now know of Him. Open your heart to hear Him. Talk to Him and talk about Him to others. Seek out experiences with Him. If you do this, your love for God will grow and your service will be the natural overflow of it.
Read the study that goes along with this post “What Does God Require of Us?”
