How should free people live?

Standing on the border about to send his people across to the promised land, Moses preached one last sermon to say it one last time. One generation earlier, their parents had failed. They too had stood at the border ready to enter but they would not trust God and so he turned them back to the desert. Would that happen again?

This new generation listened intently as Moses told them what their parents should have known. Moses gave them the keys to living a long, good life in the land. Moses’ sermon was clear. Their life would show that they got what God had done in freeing them from slavery in Egypt. How they would “love the LORD with all their heart” would affect all of life, from loving their neighbors, to the way they dressed, to the food they ate. The rewards of the obedient life would be abundant, but the consequence of disobedience would be disaster.

What a relevant book for us! We have been freed by Jesus, and that should be evident in every facet of our lives. Our employers, neighbors (even the opposing sports team?) will see how God’s saving work on our behalf changes everything about how we live.