Praise the Lord! God, being our Creator and Sustainer and Redeemer/Savior, has been good to us all the days of our life both during our good times as well as during the days of hardships, as it is mentioned in Psalm 100:5 that The Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Elsewhere in the Psalms also it is stated that God’s faithfulness continues through all generations (Psalm 119:90). King Solomon, one of the wisest person ever lived, urged his hearers/readers [based on his own life experience and through his observation of people and things around him] to be happy in all seasons of life, saying When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other (Ecclesiastes 7:14a), as everyday is made by none other than God (Psalm 118:24; also refer to Job 2:10; James 1:2-4). Therefore, let us follow God wholeheartedly and place our complete trust in God by knowing the limitation of our ability to handle the situations that are beyond our control. If our life is rooted in the Lord our God and live our faith-life according to His will, He will make our path straight and our life successful and enable us to withstand any trials and troubles that come across our life.

The Lord has blessed us with a unique and advantageous Scripture passage for our SftW meditation this week (Deuteronomy 10:20-21 / mentioned above), which is focused on admonishing to fear the Lord and hold fast unto Him as He is the only One to whom we are owing our life-long gratitude for everything He does for us as our Creator and Sustainer and Redeemer. The phrase ‘fear of the Lord’ signifies to acknowledge His righteousness, holiness, and justice, and give Him the due respect and honor and glory and approach his presence with reverence and holy awe as we enjoy the fullness of His love, compassion, joy, and peace in His awesome presence. Moses reminded the Israelites to fear the Lord and keep all the righteous laws and decrees and commands He has given them, so that they can be blessed and kept alive in the land of the living, as it is mentioned: The Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes and to fear the Lord our God, that we may always be prosperous and preserved (Deuteronomy 6:24). If we wholeheartedly obey God’s commands and keep His righteous laws and decrees and live our life according to His will and for His purpose, God will multiply our resources and enable us to do greater things in life; for instance: the Lord multiplied five loaves of bread and two fish into large quantity of loaves and fish that enabled to feed five thousands men in addition to feeding the women and children with twelve basket full of left over loaves of bread (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:31-44; Luke 9:12-17; John 6:1-14); or a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug multiplied to last to feed the widow of Zarephath and her family until the Lord send rain in the region (1 Kings 17:7-16); or a small jar of olive oil to multiply and fill all the jars  that were borrowed from the neighbors that could sell and pay off all the debts of one of prophet Elisha’s disciples’ family owed to their creditor (2 Kings 4:1-7); or the farmer who sow his seed and received a crop – a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown (Matthew 13:8, 23; Mark 4:8, 20; Luke 8:8).

As we abide in the Lord our God and walk with Him, we should not harden our heart but fear Him and seek His face in all circumstances in our life. Apostle Paul insisted the believers in Ephesus not to harden their hearts in the way those who do not follow the teachings of Christ do but live their life like a new person in Christ Jesus as they were created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness, saying:

You must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts … you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus … and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:17-24).

This teaches us that a life lived without connecting with God ends up in futility and anything we do in life to satisfy our self-interests would end up in meaningless efforts as no followers of Christ can build anything in the present world or in the world to come (the Kingdom that Christ would establish at His return) apart from Christ, as it is mentioned:

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).

Therefore, let us neither make our life-decisions with the hardness of heart nor let us darken the lightened path ahead of us. Also, let us not allow our ignorance to drive us through the paths of life nor allow our covetous desires direct the rest of our life because our futile behaviors and attitudes can cause our future to be a disaster and meaningless. Instead, let us obey and do what the Word of God tells us and abide in Christ Jesus the true vine (John 15:1, 5) and stay close to our Father in heaven who created us in His likeness and image (Genesis 1:26). Let us also do what He says to us, as it mentioned in Deuteronomy 10:20-21 …

• • Let us fear (give due respect and honor and glory) the Lord our God (10:20a)
  • Let us love and serve Him alone (10:20b)
  • Let us draw closer to Him and hold fast unto Him (10:20c)
  • Let us take our oaths in His name and fulfill it wholeheartedly (10:20d)
  • He is the One whom we adore and praise and worship (10:21a)
  • He is the Lord God Almighty (10:21b)
  • He is our God (10:21c)
  • He has done great and awesome wonders in our life (10:21d)
  • He will continue to do such great and awesome wonders in our lives in the days ahead also (10:21e)
  • He has been faithful to us so fr in life and He will continue to be faithful to us for the rest of our life (10:21f)

In the light of our meditation, let us dedicate our life once again to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength and love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27); and commit our life to praise and worship and serve Him and Him alone. May the Lord God Almighty bless us all! Amen!