“Even in the desert, it is possible to live lives shaped by the Kingdom.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – March 4, 2023
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:5, ESV
In Deuteronomy 6, we encounter one of the more familiar and “popular” passages of the entire Old Testament. Likely, this is a verse that you’ve heard countless times. You may even have it framed on your wall or on a bedside table. These words are inspiring and call us to a life of total devotion to God, loving him with all our heart, soul, and might. And true as that is, what is often missed is the context for these words. Yet when we seat them in their proper context, I believe they come alive in an ever more powerful way.
God gives these words of total devotion to his people as they are preparing to leave the desert and enter the Promised Land. The Lord says, in essence, “This is how you are meant to live as citizens of my kingdom. This is what it looks like for you to be my people.” This was true for ancient Israel, and I believe it is the key for us in our life with Christ today.
If we’re honest, sometimes our lives may feel like we’re in the desert. Perhaps you feel like an Israelite of old, wandering in a barren place, searching for home. Yet also, like God’s historic people, we too have been given the promise of a home, a destination in which we will dwell with him in perfect harmony. This is the hope we have in Christ, and it has the ability to shape and reshape our lives in the present as we wander in desolate places.
Even in the desert, it is possible to live lives shaped by the Kingdom.
We do not need to wait for that final day to begin to live by the words of Deuteronomy 6. No, in truth, we must learn to live by them in the present, for as we do we learn to journey toward our final home and true destination. Let us right here and right now, no matter what season of life you may find yourself in, live lives that are shaped by the values of his eternal kingdom, loving God with all our heart, soul, and might, and loving one another as we love ourselves.
Prayer
Father, bless us as we journey in faith toward your perfect kingdom, learning to live in the present by the values of eternity, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Application
Even in the desert, how can your life more fully reflect the values of God’s coming kingdom?
Related Reading
Matthew 22:37; Romans 12:2; James 1:2-4
Worship Resource
Jenn Johnson: Holy Forever
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