What Does God Require?

Deut. 10:12-13

"What does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to obey 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?"

The answer to this weighty question is simple; God requires every single bit of me. He wants my complete and utter dependence on Him. But practically, how does this surrender look? First, God requires that I fear Him. I think of 'fearing' as a deep respect or reverence for Him, not so much because of his severe judgment and unlimited power, but because of His nature and His great attributes of love, kindness, grace, mercy, wisdom, and forgiveness. I revere Him because in His infinite wisdom, He chose me to be His child and allowed me to have a relationship with Him. He is my creator, my refuge, my rock, the One who I long to worship with songs of joy. For all of these reasons and so many more, I fear the Lord.

Secondly, God requires that I walk in His ways and obey Him. I think that in order to walk in His ways, I would have to obey. But how can I since I am a sinful human being who is torn between the flesh and the spirit? Thankfully, God not only gives the command, but He gives the means to obey the command. With Him, it is a win-win situation as long as I am surrendered and dependent. In my flesh, I can not obey, but He gives me the grace to obey. Rom. 8:5 says "live in the Spirit," and Gal. 5:25 says "Live and walk by the Spirit." It is through the Spirit that I can walk in His ways. As I yield to God, His Spirit is free to work convicting, teaching, leading, guiding, and transforming me.

Thirdly, God requires that I serve Him with all my heart and soul. The heart and soul speak to me of passion, emotion, and even will. I can't serve Him out of some sense of obligation or duty, but instead my service must come from a heart of passionate obedience. It reminds me of when my children were younger. As they played outside, they would see some pretty flower most often a dandelion. With their hearts bursting with love, they would run inside offering me their great treasure. They had no thought of ever keeping it for themselves. Who would have thought that I would ever value a weed? As I bring my service to God, it is similar. Many times my offerings might only be a dandelion, but God sees my soul and knows my heart.

Finally, the Lord does require my obedience. To Him, there is no other way. I must say with Paul, "Not that...I am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own...One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." As I strain forward in obedience,

then I will be walking worthy of the upward call of God.

Father,

Keep me ever committed to our relationship. Even though I want to serve You, I am afraid that there are some days when I do not see all the opportunities for service that You have waiting for me. Open my eyes.

In Jesus name,

Amen