What the Lord Requires

“Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to revere him, to obey all his commandments, to love him, to serve him with all your mind and being.” Deuteronomy 10:12

Once you assume there is a personal God who oversees all existence, it follows that our own personal meaning must flow out His heart for creation. We are not separate, self-fulfilling agents outside of God’s universe. We are as much a part of all nature as each tree, orchid, ant or elephant. We may be the height of His handiwork, but we are in no way separate from it at all.

It would do us good, then, to think intentionally about the world which we share with all other living things. What principles has God poured into the vast existence that, without question, is billions of years old. What does the Creator of all consider the highest of activities, the truest of actions, the most fulfilling of emotion and purpose?

Genesis records God’s creation of the world in beautiful poetry. Though I do not believe the first two chapters are meant as a scientific treatise, explaining how the universe came into being in 144 hours, I do believe God wants us to understand this universe is His personal handiwork. And, above all, when He creates humans, “Adamah”, He devotes an entire day, allowing Adam to join Him in naming the creatures of earth. Once God gives Eve to Adam, and calling this part of creation “very good”, He then says that they are created in His image!

This tells us much. It explains why we are to be closely connected with Father God. In His image, we carry within us seeds of the same desires that motivated God to create the world, to move carefully and lovingly over creation, and to provide for all He had created. We are creators ourselves. From farmers to mechanics, chemists and physicians, poets and painters, authors and harpists, we have a desire to produce something that is both part of ourselves and outside of ourselves.

The songwriter is not completely fulfilled until she has sung her creation for someone else. The scientist’s discoveries are not complete until published in a scientific journal. The farmer talks about the productivity of his fields, the contractor points out the homes she has built. Even our desire for pets as companions is a corresponding echo to God’s care for His creation.

With this background, it is not surprising in the least that God will communicate to us His desire for mankind. As the apex of creation, He assigns great responsibility and oversees us with great care.

He asks that we revere Him. The King James translates it as “fear”, and perhaps rightly so. God is far different from us. Though we reflect His glory, and carry His image, we still are the tiniest representation and a decidedly dulled reflection. He is the “Other”. He is what nothing is else. He is Life without which no life would exist. He is Love, without which disorder would reign throughout all. He is Righteous, the very measure by which all else, good and evil, healthy and harmful, are considered.

Obedience to God is only reasonable given we live in His universe, after all. It is an entirely pedantic allegory, but tenants are required to live up to some reasonable expectations from the landowner. God, of course, is much more than a cosmic landlord, but I hope the comparison suffices. Beyond His claim on all creation, He is also all-loving toward what He has made, and especially compassionate to we who He made in His image. Obedience to that God is the sensible thing to do.

As if to underline what sort of obedience He expects, the verse continues by saying we should “love him and serve him” with all our mind and being. Father God is not a despot ruling from a celestial throne room full of agents cowering before Him, waiting for His next grumpy assignment. All God does is motivated by love because, as 1 John says, “God is love.” He does not ask us to love Him before He has shown His own faithful love to us. Even when Moses gives these expectations to Israel, God has already shown His love by delivering them from Egypt, and putting up with their constant complaining on the way to the Promised Land. In spite of their stubbornness and constant slips into idolatry, He does not reject them.

Finally, in Christ, God has shown His love to the entire world. “While we were still sinners” Christ died for us (Romans 5). You and I were created to be spectacular people. You can use the synonyms that mean the most to you. We were born to win, made to prosper, created to be successes. Sin has marred the initial perfection, but a life connected to God through Jesus Christ is a life full of prosperity.

Turn this little verse into a prayer, telling Father God that indeed, you desire to revere Him and obey His commandments. Offer Him your deepest love and devoted service. Tell Him You want to live in His world in the way He meant you to live, fully for Him, with all your heart and being.